In Taylor Swift’s “august,” the boy pursued by the narrator is named James.
James is part of the fictional love triangle developed across three Folklore songs. “august” presents the perspective of an unnamed girl who has a brief summer romance with him. “Cardigan” is associated with Betty’s perspective, while “Betty” presents James’s perspective as he attempts to reconcile with Betty.
The narrator of “august” is not officially given a name in the song. Swift said she imagined her as “Augusta” or “Augustine,” but those are descriptive ideas rather than the boy’s name. James, by contrast, is explicitly identified within the interconnected storyline.
A common misunderstanding is treating these songs as direct autobiographical accounts. Swift described the Folklore narratives as fictional, with imagined characters and story arcs. The three tracks are linked thematically and narratively, but they are not a literal account of a documented real-life triangle.