The boy in Taylor Swift’s “august” is the fictional character James.
“august” presents a summer romance involving James and an unnamed female narrator. James is already connected to Betty, and the song captures the narrator’s realization that the relationship was temporary and that James will return to Betty.
James, Betty, and the unnamed narrator form Folklore’s fictional teenage love triangle. Fans sometimes call the narrator Augustine or Augusta, but Swift did not give her a confirmed name in the song. Rebekah Harkness is a different Folklore subject, appearing in “the last great american dynasty.”