What is the birth name of the author known as J.K. Rowling?

The author known as J.K. Rowling was born Joanne Rowling.

She was born on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. Her parents were Peter Rowling and Anne Rowling, and she grew up partly in the nearby village of Tutshill.

The initials in her pen name do not exactly reproduce her birth name. Rowling used “J.K.” when Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published because her publisher believed that a gender-neutral author name might appeal more broadly to young readers. The “K” refers to Kathleen, her paternal grandmother’s name, although Rowling was not born with Kathleen as a middle name.

A common mix-up is spelling her first name “Joanna.” The author’s given name is Joanne, and the middle initial in J.K. is a publishing name rather than part of her birth name.