What is J.K. Rowling’s birthday?

J.K. Rowling was born on 31 July 1965.

She was born Joanne Rowling at Yate General Hospital in Gloucestershire, England. Her birthday is notable in the Harry Potter world because the fictional Harry Potter is also born on 31 July. Rowling has described Harry as sharing several details with her, including that date, but Harry is not an autobiographical version of the author.

The date is frequently mentioned in biographies, interviews, and fan celebrations. Harry Potter’s fictional birth year is 1980, while Rowling’s birth year is 1965, so the characters’ shared day and month do not mean they share an age or chronology.

Rowling began publishing under initials rather than her full first name. The first Harry Potter novel appeared in 1997, when she was 31. Her birthday therefore predates the publication of the series by more than three decades and is separate from the dates on which the individual books were released.