J.K. Rowling’s full first name is Joanne. She was born Joanne Rowling on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England.
The “K” in her public pen name does not come from a second given name. Her publishers asked her to use initials, partly because they believed boys might be less likely to choose a book by a woman author. Rowling selected “K” in honour of her paternal grandmother, Kathleen.
Rowling has generally been known worldwide as J.K. Rowling, so readers sometimes assume that Joanne is a middle name or that the K stands for her own second name. It does not. Her surname later became Murray after her first marriage and then Rowling again professionally.
The name Joanne also appears in biographies and official records, while “J.K. Rowling” remains the name associated with the Harry Potter novels and many of her charitable projects.