Jefferson Airplane folklore says that China only just escaped
being named "god" (with a small "g"), and that her parents decided that
maybe they should go with something a little more conventional, and
chose "China" instead. In an interview for the 2003 book "Got A Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane",
Grace Slick revealed that the origin of this story was a joke she had with one of the nurses in the hospital shortly after China's birth. However, the nurse did not understand it was a joke, and called reporter Herb Caen at the San Francisco Chronicle, who printed the story. According to interviews given by China and both of her parents, at no point has her name ever been "god", the name on her birth certificate is China Wing Kantner, and all stories to the contrary are simply repeating the urban legend that began with Grace's joke with the nurse shortly after China's birth.
