What was J.K. Rowling’s birth name before she began using the initial in her pen name?

J.K. Rowling’s birth name was Joanne Rowling.

Rowling was born Joanne Rowling 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. She later became widely known as J.K. Rowling after adopting the initial “K” for publication.

Rowling has explained that she did not have a middle name at birth. The “K” stands for Kathleen, the name of her paternal grandmother, and was added at the request of her publisher before Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published. The initials were considered more gender-neutral for the target audience.

The author is also frequently called Joanne Kathleen Rowling, but that was not her original birth name. She married Neil Murray in 2001 and has also used the name Joanne Murray in some biographical contexts. Her best-known author name remains J.K. Rowling.