The first recorded name given in an actual writing system can be found on clay tablets dating from the Jemdet Nasr period in Sumeria between 3200 and 3101 BC. The tablets are not profound treatises on human thinking, but accounting ledgers for tallying up goods and possessions!

What was the first ever name?

While there is some debate on who is the oldest named person on record, for the most part, many researchers agree that Kushim is the oldest known name in the world, dating back to around 3400 to 3000 BCE. Surprisingly, Kushim wasn't a king or ruler, they were an account.

Who invented names for humans?

The binomial name Homo sapiens was coined by Carl Linnaeus (1758). Names for other human species were introduced beginning in the second half of the 19th century (Homo neanderthalensis 1864, Homo erectus 1892).