James is the 17-year-old character in the story of Taylor Swift's “August.”
The song is part of a fictional love triangle on Folklore involving James, Betty, and the unnamed narrator of “August.” James is already connected to Betty, yet he becomes involved in a brief summer romance with the narrator, creating the song's central tension.
“August” presents the story from the perspective of the girl who hopes the relationship might become permanent. The romance ends when James returns to Betty, leaving the narrator to realize that the relationship was never truly hers to keep.
Listeners sometimes call the narrator “Augustine” or “Augusta,” but Swift explained that the character is not explicitly named in the song. Those names were possibilities Swift imagined privately. James, by contrast, is explicitly identified across the connected Folklore songs, making him the clear answer to this age-based question.