James is the teenage boy in Taylor Swift’s “August” love-triangle story.
The song is told from the perspective of an unnamed girl who has a brief summer romance with James. He is already connected to Betty, and the relationship eventually ends when James returns to Betty. “August” therefore presents the story from the viewpoint of the person outside the established couple.
The same fictional narrative continues across three Folklore songs. “Cardigan” presents Betty’s perspective, “Betty” presents James’s perspective, and “August” presents the unnamed narrator’s perspective. Fans often refer to this as the Folklore teenage love triangle.
A common mistake is calling the narrator Augustine or Augusta. Swift said she imagined possible names for the character but never formally named her in the song. James, by contrast, is explicitly identified in the story and is the single canonical answer to this question.