James is the teenage boy loved by the narrator of Taylor Swift’s “august.”
The song’s narrator is a young woman who becomes involved with James during the summer. He is already connected to Betty, and the romance described in “august” is temporary rather than a lasting relationship. When the summer ends, James returns to Betty, leaving the narrator to process what she believed was love.
James also appears in “betty,” the Folklore song that presents his perspective. That connection helps establish that “august,” “betty,” and “cardigan” belong to one fictional narrative. Betty is the former or returning lover, not the narrator of “august.”
Swift never gives the female narrator a definitive name in the song. She said she imagined calling the character Augusta or Augustine, but those are private descriptive names rather than the boy’s name. James, by contrast, is explicitly identified within the connected Folklore storyline.