What is J.K. Rowling’s birth name, before the initials in her pen name?

J.K. Rowling’s birth name is Joanne Rowling. She was born Joanne Rowling on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, and grew up partly in nearby Tutshill. The initials in her public name do not represent a middle name originally given at birth.

Rowling adopted the initial K when Bloomsbury prepared to publish Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in the United Kingdom. The publisher believed that a name with two initials might appeal broadly to young readers, and Rowling chose K for Kathleen, her paternal grandmother’s name. She is therefore commonly known as J.K. Rowling, although the name on her birth record was Joanne Rowling.

A related source of confusion is her surname after marriage: she was briefly known as Joanne Murray. She has generally used J.K. Rowling professionally, while her birth name remains the clearest answer to this biographical question. The initials are part of her publishing identity rather than a complete version of her original name.