JD Vance navigates complex name history

JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, has a complex history with his name. Born James Donald Bowman, it changed several times throughout his life.

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— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 29, 2024

When Vance was about six, his mother, Beverly, remarried Robert Hamel, who adopted Vance and renamed him James David Hamel.

INGRAHAM: What can you say to viewers to reassure them that JD Vance was an excellent pick?

TRUMP: He's got tremendous support, and he really does among a certain group of people — people like like families. He made a statement having to do with families. pic.twitter.com/5XNOoi4oXn

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 29, 2024

Beverly kept his initials the same, explaining that any “D” name would have sufficed as long as it wasn’t “Donald.”

Schumer: "The addition of JD Vance to this ticket, it's an incredibly bad choice … I'll bet President Trump is sitting there scratching his head and wondering, 'why did I pick this guy?' … does he keep Vance on the ticket?" pic.twitter.com/kC9UH4daQY

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 28, 2024

Vance spent over two decades as James David “J.D.” Hamel, graduating from high school, serving in Iraq as a U.S. Marine, earning a political science degree at The Ohio State University, and studying law at Yale under this name.

Navigating identity through name changes

However, Vance was dissatisfied with his name, especially after his mother and adoptive father divorced. “I shared a name with no one I really cared about,” Vance wrote in his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.” In April 2013, just before graduating from Yale, Vance changed his name one final time to match his beloved Mamaw, Bonnie Blanton Vance, who had raised him. The transition represented a fresh start and a tribute to the woman he regarded as his “north star.” Throughout his tumultuous childhood, Mamaw raised JD and was always his north star,” said Vance’s campaign spokesperson, {Taylor Van Kirk. “It only felt right to him to take Vance as his last name.” Adopting the Vance name also connected him to his heritage, as he writes in “Hillbilly Elegy” that a distant cousin named James Vance had a notorious role in the historic Hatfield-McCoy feud. Claiming this last name allowed JD Vance to embody the legacy of his grandmother and assert his connection to hillbilly culture just as he stepped into the public eye.