JD Vance, the nominated vice presidential candidate for the Republican Party and Donald Trump’s running mate, has changed his middle and last name twice. This has caused a stir in social media as people are trying to find out why his name during his military service (James Hamel) is different from his name during his marriage with Usha (James David Vance (JD Vance)).
The 39-year-old JD Vance was born James Donald Bowman in Middletown, Ohio, a town that is halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati. His middle and last names were those of his father, Donald Bowman. However, after his parents’ divorce, Bowman’s middle name was changed to David. Hence, James David Bowman.
During his teenage years, James adopted his stepfather’s last name and was called James Hamel. This name lasted for a while, as his 2003 senior yearbook identifies him as James Hamel. He also used this name during his military service, which lasted from 2003 to 2007, where he served as a Corporal in the Marines.
The name is JD Vance
After James’ marriage to Usha in 2014, he decided to change his name in honor of his grandparents. He took his maternal grandparents’ surname. Remember that in his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” his bestselling novel and his congressional bio, James repeatedly emphasized the role his maternal grandparents played in his upbringing.
Due to Vance’s love for his grandparents, he especially thanked his grandmother, “Mamaw,” as he fondly calls her, during his Senate victory speech and his vice presidential acceptance speech. This caused the audience at the Republican National Convention (RNC) to chant “Mamaw Mamaw.”
It is rather obvious that Vance’s series of name changes were due to personal and family reasons.
Vance has always talked about his upbringing, as also illustrated in his memoir, where he recounted his childhood hardship but also laid out the bracing argument that “culture” and laziness, not economic circumstance, “encourage social decay instead of counteracting it.”
Vance also has a strong association with blue-collar, rust-belt America, a place he characterizes as “cast aside and forgotten by America’s ruling class in Washington.” This association, although personal to him, will naturally be pivotal in helping Trump flip back crucial states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
