J.K. Rowling’s first name at birth was Joanne. She was born Joanne Rowling on 31 July 1965 at Yate General Hospital near Bristol, England, and grew up in Gloucestershire.
Rowling has explained that the “K” in her pen name does not represent a middle name she was given at birth. Her publishers wanted a name with initials because they believed boys might be less likely to read a book written by a woman. She chose “Kathleen” as a tribute to her paternal grandmother.
The author is therefore commonly called J.K. Rowling, although “Joanne” remains her given first name. A frequent mix-up is assuming that the K was part of her original legal name. It was adopted for professional use before Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published in 1997.