What is J.K. Rowling’s full name, without the author’s pen name?

J.K. Rowling’s full name is Joanne Rowling.

She was born Joanne Rowling on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. The initials “J.K.” were not her original full name. Her publisher suggested using initials because the expected audience of boys might be less likely to choose a book written by a woman.

Rowling has said that she had no middle name at birth. She selected “Kathleen” as her second initial in honor of her paternal grandmother when preparing to publish Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The name therefore became J.K. Rowling, even though “Kathleen” is not part of her birth name.

This detail is sometimes confused with her later married surname, Murray. Rowling used Joanne Murray during her first marriage, but she publishes the Harry Potter novels as J.K. Rowling. Her crime novels use the separate pen name Robert Galbraith.