What is J.K. Rowling’s middle initial said to honor?

J.K. Rowling’s middle initial is said to honor her grandmother Kathleen.

Rowling was born Joanne Rowling and did not originally have a middle name. When Bloomsbury prepared to publish Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the publisher feared that some boys might avoid a book written by a woman. It asked her to use two initials instead of her full name.

Rowling chose “K” for Kathleen, the name of her paternal grandmother, creating the author name J.K. Rowling. The name is not evidence that Rowling’s own legal birth name contained a middle name. The “J” stands for Joanne, while the added initial helped form the memorable author identity used on the books.