The surname of Harry Potter’s creator, whose initials are J.K., is Rowling.
She was born Joanne Rowling on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. Her professional name became J.K. Rowling when Bloomsbury published Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 1997. The middle initial was selected for the author name because the publisher believed a name without an obviously feminine first name might appeal to boys.
The “K” stands for Kathleen, the name of Rowling’s paternal grandmother. Rowling herself was not born with Kathleen as a middle name; it was adopted for her author identity. She is also often called Jo by friends and family.
The surname is sometimes misspelled as “Rowland” or “Rawlings,” but Rowling is the correct spelling. Her books have also appeared under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, while J.K. Rowling remains the name most closely associated with Harry Potter and her children’s literature.