What is J.K. Rowling’s full pen name for publishing the Harry Potter books?

J.K. Rowling is the publishing name used for the Harry Potter books.

Rowling was born Joanne Rowling and did not originally have a middle name. Her publisher, Bloomsbury, asked her to use two initials for the first Harry Potter book, partly because the company thought a gender-neutral author name might attract boys as well as girls. Rowling selected “K” in honour of her paternal grandmother, Kathleen.

The name is commonly written “J. K. Rowling,” although publication styles often omit the spaces and periods. It is not a separate fictional identity: Rowling remains the author’s public name for the Harry Potter series and many related works.

A common mix-up is assuming that the “K” stands for Rowling’s birth middle name. It does not. Her name at birth was Joanne Rowling. She later used the name Joanne Murray during her marriage to Neil Murray, but her books continued to appear under J.K. Rowling.