James is the first name of the boy described in Taylor Swift’s song “august.”
The song presents a fictional teenage girl remembering a brief summer romance with James. He is emotionally unavailable because he is connected to Betty, and the narrator gradually realizes that the relationship was never truly hers to keep.
James is one point in Folklore’s interconnected teenage love triangle. “cardigan” presents Betty’s perspective, while “betty” presents James’s perspective; “august” is told by the unnamed girl involved in the summer affair.
The narrator is sometimes called Augustine by fans because Swift later identified the character with that name. That is a character label, not the boy’s name. James is the male character, while Betty is his former or intended partner in the fictional storyline.