JD Vance has changed his name several times. This is why

The name JD Vance is currently one of the best-known names in American politics. However, the Ohio senator has gone through several iterations during his lifetime.

Vance was born James Donald Bowman in Middletown, Ohio, in 1984, after being given the name by his biological father, Donald Bowman. His mother’s maiden name was Beverly Vance.

His childhood nickname was JD, which he said was pronounced “jay-dot-dee” in his best-selling 2016 memoir Hillbilly elegy.

Vance’s parents officially divorced when he was six years old, which he described in his book as “the saddest thing I had ever felt.” He also described a “revolving door of father figures.”

After the divorce, Vance adopted the name of his mother’s third husband Bob Hamel, and his middle name was changed to David – that of one of his uncles – while retaining his childhood nickname JD.

However, Vance did not believe his mother’s story that he was named after his uncle David. “Any old D name would have sufficed, as long as it wasn’t Donald,” he wrote.

Nevertheless, ‘jay-dot-dee’ was now short for James David.

When his mother removed Donald Bowman from his and her lives, the adoption process also erased the name James Donald Bowman from the public record. Vance’s only birth certificate at the Ohio Vital Statistics Bureau lists James David Hamel, according to state-provided information cited by the Associated Press.

He would spend more than two decades as James David “JD” Hamel, serving in Iraq as a US Marine – Corporal James D Hamel. But the situation gnawed at him, especially after his mother and adoptive father divorced.

“I didn’t share a name with anyone I really cared about (which already bothered me), and with Bob gone, explaining why my name was JD Hamel was going to take a few extra awkward moments,” he wrote in Hillbilly elegy.

‘Yes, my legal father’s last name is Hamel. You haven’t met him because I don’t see him. No, I don’t know why I can’t see him. Of all the things I hated about my childhood, nothing compared to the revolving door of father figures.”

He decided to change his name again to Vance – the last name of his beloved ‘Mamaw’. Vance’s mother suffered from substance abuse and addiction, and allegedly abused her children, leading to him being taken in and raised by James and Bonnie Vance.

Vance paid tribute to his grandmother, a union Democrat, during his acceptance speech after being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022.

“You won’t always agree with every vote I make, and you won’t always agree with every amendment I offer in the United States Senate, but I will never forget the woman who raised me,” he said. said.

The official name change reportedly took place not on his wedding day in 2014, as the book implies, but in April 2013, when he was about to graduate from Yale.

Vance made the latest change to his name after entering politics in July 2021, removing the periods from “JD.” During his life he had used this abbreviation, JD, often.

Asked at the time by The Associated Press whether this was a formal change or merely stylistic, his campaign said it was how Vance preferred to be referred to in print.

He has maintained the usage as a U.S. Senator, calling himself J.D. Vance on his Senate website, in press releases, and in certain campaign and business documents.