J.J. Abrams's Real Name: Jeffrey Jacob Abrams

Quick answer: J.J. Abrams's full name is Jeffrey Jacob Abrams, so the initials J.J. stand for Jeffrey Jacob. He was born on June 27, 1966, in New York City. Early screen credits list him as Jeffrey Abrams. He co-created Felicity, Alias, and Lost, and he directed Star Trek (2009) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) (Library of Congress; Britannica).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress name authority files him as "Abrams, J. J. (Jeffrey Jacob), 1966-," with the variant "Abrams, Jeffrey Jacob, 1966-." One citation reads "Jeffrey Jacob 'J. J.' Abrams." The record also preserves older forms, "Abrams, Jeffrey, 1964-" and "Abrams, J. J. (Jeffrey J.), 1964-," and notes credits under "Jeffrey Abrams." Britannica gives his birth date as June 27, 1966, in New York City. The 1964 date appears only in older catalog headings.

Britannica says his father was a producer of made-for-TV movies and that Abrams made short Super-8 films as a boy. His first industry job came at 16, when he scored the low-budget sci-fi film Nightbeast (1982). He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, in 1988.

Career highlights

Abrams cowrote the comedy Taking Care of Business (1990) with Jill Mazursky. He then wrote Regarding Henry (1991), on which he was also a coproducer, and Forever Young (1992), and he cowrote Gone Fishin' (1997) and Armageddon (1998).

In television he co-created the college drama Felicity (1998–2002) and created the spy series Alias (2001–06), for which he even composed the theme. Lost, which premiered in September 2004, followed plane-crash survivors on a mysterious island. Britannica says it averaged more than 15 million weekly viewers in its first two seasons. He later co-created Fringe (2008–13) and Undercovers (2010).

Tom Cruise chose him to direct Mission: Impossible III (2006), and many reviewers praised his direction. Britannica credits his Star Trek (2009) with adding youthful energy to a franchise many thought had run its course; it was one of the year's biggest hits, followed by Star Trek into Darkness (2013). He wrote and directed Super 8 (2011), a homage produced by Steven Spielberg. He cowrote and directed Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and later the ninth episode, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

Name notes for searchers

Jeffrey is his legal first name and Jacob his middle name; "J.J." combines the two initials. Abrams is his family surname. Credits vary between "J.J. Abrams," "J. J. Abrams," and, in early work, "Jeffrey Abrams." All refer to the same person.