

Hillary Makubikwa, 18-months, meets her namesake on May 10 in Louisville, Ky. (Michael Davidson/Clinton 2016 campaign)

In the United States, people will tell you they come by their children's names any number of ways. And, each year, parental notions of originality are dashed when the Social Security Administration's most popular names list makes it clear that millions of parents also thought that Emma, Noah or Olivia was distinctly made for their little one too.

But the United States is home to people who hail from many nations and where pieces of other cultures thrive. For instance in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a Central African nation riddled by armed conflict, widespread sexual violence as a tool of war and less-than-democratic elections, there is a tradition of giving children a first name which captures some aspect of what you hope they will be, what kind of personality, habits and abilities they will demonstrate.

And on Tuesday, all of that collided briefly with a singular moment in American political history.

In advance of Hillary Clinton's evening speech in Brooklyn, where Clinton claimed the mantle of presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee, the Clinton campaign dispatched this tweet, inspired by the image up above.

To every little girl who dreams big: Yes, you can be anything you want—even president. Tonight is for you. -H pic.twitter.com/jq7fKlfwGV — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 8, 2016

Now, it is our professional duty to alert readers to the fact that this was not the first time this particular image accompanied a Clinton social media posting. The campaign almost certainly selected it because of the natural questions it raises, the smile one has a hard time resisting when you really look at that baby doing her thing. And, then, there's Hillary Clinton doing something that looks like smiling and dancing with a little girl.

Sure, the most cynical among us -- those who know campaigns to be long advertising efforts, and those who despise all things Hillary Clinton -- will say this this photo and this tweet are naked attempt to say a few things -- even a pander. See here is Clinton, a leader who embraces diversity. Look, Clinton, potential leader of the Free World, also cares. And hey, Clinton can also be fun. Some or all of those assumptions may be right.

But what is also true is this: There is a story behind this photo that may warm the frostiest parts of some hearts. There are, you see, two Hillarys in that picture. There's Hillary Clinton, presidential candidate, and her namesake Hillary Anjoeala Makubikwa, most beloved daughter of Francine Kaja Makubikwa and Roddy Makubikwa, immigrants from Congo who moved to the United States two years ago. And this is the moment where the two Hillarys first met.

Notice that thing little Hillary, 18 months old and American-born, is doing. That's one of those universal robotic baby dance moves when a totally mobile toddler is set free. Now, look closely at the women in that hallway. That's little Hillary's mom on the left holding a purse, head turned away from the camera. And yes, that's Clinton adviser Huma Abedin smiling broadly on the right in the midst of what we all know has been a very difficult few years. There is a an unidentified woman snapping a photo of the moment on her cell phone. Now, look at Clinton, doing something that looks a lot like the robot too.

Nothing stirred? Then consider this:

When the Makubikwas learned that their child would be an American-born girl, they did what all parents do. They got serious about giving this child a name. As is the tradition in Congo, they wanted a name that captures some aspect of what the family hopes that the child will be, what kind of personality, habits and abilities they will demonstrate and hone. For the Makubikwas that meant they needed the name of a strong woman, Roddy Makubikwa explained to me.

"In our country, there were, there have been a lot of problems," he said. "And it is women, in our country, who have worked to lead us to a different place. Strong women. They are a gift to the world. And that is what we want for our daughter. We want her to be someone who is fair, someone who is strong."

With that in mind, the Makubikwas narrowed their choices to two names: Margaret, for Margaret Thatcher, the late conservative British prime minister; and Hillary, for the former civil and children's rights lawyer and advocate, former law school professor, former first lady, former U.S. senator and former U.S. secretary of state. When the Makubikwa's child was born in early 2015, that was Hillary Clinton's résumé. But, when Roddy saw his daughter, for the first time, he had a thought.

"I said, I think this child should be Hillary," said Makubikwa. "I had a feeling that Hillary Clinton is going to be the next president of the United States. The first woman president of the United States. What better name?"

Of course, Makubikwa explained while laughing, the decision was ultimately his wife's. Francine Kaja Makubikwa had, after all, done all the hard work. And so it was that Francine and Roddy Makunikwa brought one Hillary Anjoeala Makubikwa home from the hospital.

(Anjoeala, by the way, is a suggestion from Roddy Makubikwa's mother. It means "to see something in the future.")

But, like all new parents, that was a moment defined by a tangle of emotions, including panic. There was a tiny human being depending on the Louisville’s Family Heath Centers now for her very survival. Although Roddy Makubikwa studied and trained to become a type of structural engineer in Russia, when the couple arrived in the United States, neither spoke English well. Both are learning. Francine Kaja Makubikwa operates primarily in French. But Roddy Makubikwa spoke with The Fix on a range of topics this week in English. Still, when little Hillary was born, neither were completely fluent. They wanted to be sure their daughter had a strong foundation, a good start that will enable her to do well in school, Roddy explained.

So, they signed up for HANDS. The program, open to every child born in Kentucky before age 3-months, provides voluntary in-home visitation for new and expectant parents that begins during pregnancy or shortly after the child’s birth. The specialists who visit newborn children and their families help to foster healthy pregnancy and births, stable child growth and development, safe homes and self-sufficient families, and good parenting practices that support early childhood learning.

HANDS and other home-visitation programs have been a rare point of bipartisan congressional agreement and funding votes. The results of many of these programs are that good. Children and parents who participate are less likely to suffer serious injuries, families were more likely to remain in tact, the time between children tends to grow, dependence of social service programs is unusually low and when these children get to school, they typically earn better test scores than their peers. The list of well-documented benefits does go on.

So, it's not at all surprising that some of HANDS staff know the whole story behind little Hillary's name. Nor, is it really surprising that when Clinton wanted to announce her child-care policy ideas, that she would do it at the Louisville’s Family Heath Centers, or that HANDS staff and participating families would be there. One of those staffers told someone on the Clinton campaign about the Lousiville-born namesake. That information reached Clinton, and Clinton felt she and little Hillary should meet.

[Clinton pledges that no family pays more than 10 percent of income on child care]

That's the moment above. Roddy Makubikwa said he told his daughter just two things -- ideas he thought she might at least partially understand. This lady shares your name. And, this woman may be the next president of the United States.

"For some reason, that was it, [little] Hillary couldn't keep still," said Roddy Makubikwa, who is not in the photo snapped by Clinton's campaign photographer, Michael Davidson. But, he did see the two Hillarys meet.

It was a rare bit of Daddy-lead daytime learning since most of Roddy Makubikwa's days are filled with the search for a job in his field (now that his English skills have improved). Many of his afternoons and evenings are occupied with shift work at an area manufacturing facility.

"She was just so excited for some reason. It was really something to see," he said.

It is, of course, unlikely that little Hillary's moves were an expression of political excitement. She has not yet blown out the candles on a second birthday cake. It's unlikely she will remember this moment in any real detail. The Makubkiwas are green card holders, legal immigrants but not citizens. So they can not vote. But they clearly rank among Clinton's admirers. And someday, when when their daughter is older, they will show her this picture, this snapshot of a moment where the two Hillarys met.

But here is the thing, the thing that makes this photo worth looking at for a bit of time, for the rest of us. From now on, Hillary Makubikwa and every other little girl named Hillary will share the name of the first American woman who could become president.

This picture is nothing short of a record of America's continued evolution.