JD Vance became a household name after being appointed vice president of the United States. However, the 41-year-old was not born with this name and has changed it four times throughout his life. He was born as James Donald Bowman in Ohio on August 2, 1984, making him a Leo. His birth father’s name was Donald Bowman.

He dropped both Donald and Bowman from his name to become the JD Vance we know today. Those aren’t the only details he removed from his name. When he first released his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, in 2016, he still used periods between his name and went by J.D. Vance.

After his parents split when he was almost 6 years old, his mother renamed him James David Hamel. She renamed him after her new husband and his adoptive dad, Robert Hamel. Vance later explained in his memoir how his mother insisted he was named after his uncle David.

He wrote, “Any old D name would have done, so long as it wasn’t Donald.” Vance served in the U.S. Marine Corps under the name James D. Hamel. He used this name for nearly 20 years. The name no longer made sense to Vance as his mother separated from Hamel.

He explained in his memoir, “I shared a name with no one I really cared about (which bothered me already), and with Bob gone, explaining why my name was J.D. Hamel would require a few additional awkward moments.”

If he kept using that name, he would have to clarify that it’s his legal father’s last name and not the name of his birth father. Not relating to a name that mattered to Vance may have been an identity crisis for him.

That’s when he chose his late grandmother, Bonnie Blanton Vance’s, last name in April 2013. He took her last name, Vance, considering an emotional reason behind it. She played a major role in raising him until she passed away in 2005.

Vance adopted the name a year before his wedding to Usha Vance in 2014. This new name finally gave him his identity and a fresh start for his professional career. He has been identified as JD Vance for almost 12 years now. This name appears on his bar registration, memoir, and marriage certificate and is now shared by his children. They have three kids and are expecting a fourth in July. 

Lastly, Vance made one minor change to his name by dropping the periods between J and D. Throughout his political career, his name has appeared as JD Vance while his full official name is James David Vance.