What is the earliest evidenced example of a real homo sapiens being called by name during his or her lifetime, and what was it? (For example, Gilgamesh was presumably a real king, and everyone called him Gilgamesh to his face.)
Enmebaragesi was a Sumerian King from around 2700 BC, and is the earliest Sumerian king that archaeological evidence confirms. Many lists of Sumerian kings go back further, but as with any list like that you have to wonder at what point the list starts to contain mythological characters.
Enmebaragesi was the predecessor of Agga, who was the predecessor of the famous Gilgamesh.
There are 3 candidates among ancient Pharoahs in Egypt:
King Serket, aka “The Scorpion King”
Menes
Narmer (The one with the most historical evidence.)
Believed to have lived 3000-3100 BCE. Not at all clear as to even if they are all distinct, etc.
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Scorpion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narmer
Naahhh…it was this Guy named “Mel”.
He lived over there…in Cave 7…
He made good Barbecue…
Well, there was Gorbo. He was around a really long time ago. But he wasn’t a real homo sapiens. He was a wooden homo sapiens.
Does that help?
Well, there was this one guy called Adam…
Lucy. Her full name was Lucy Van Pelt. Her brother was Linus.
Gorack. Or Steve. There was some confusion over the name.
Bob.
Bob Pithecus.
Actually Pithecus was his middle name. Bob P. Erectus. It’s the earliest known name to evoke snickering and bad puns.
van Pelt was her maiden name. After she got married to Ricky, there were two older australopithicines living on a slightly higher cave. Fred and Ethel.
Og Smash.
SentientMeat, all these answers have been about *recorded *names. There must be some evidence, however, about when human societies first invented such concepts.
Right? No?
I you sure it was Steve and not Scott?
No. It was likely not very long after starting to string more than one word together, and very long before inventing writing.
I asked for evidenced use of a name which the person was actually called in their lifetime. We have no evidence that the cavemen names were the ones they were actually called to their face ("hey, Lucy!). We have no evidence that the mythical names were real people ("Eve, dear, where the hell did is this caveman skeleton come from?).
I’d be interested in these lists of ancient kings. If the earliest names coincided with those of their Gods, that might suggest they were wholly mythical, but if not then there’s no reason why they couldn’t have been real people.
The earliest recorded name of someone who wasn’t a king is probably Imhotep, who lived in the 27th century B.C. He was known as an architect, physician, and government official. As the linked article says, the name means He Who Comes In Peace and probably demonstrates how most early names came to be. They described some mannerism or physical quality of the person and were likely assigned to you by your peers. Perhaps the custom of naming newborns arose when parents decided to give names that expressed qualities they hoped their children would exhibit as they grew up.
It’s interesting to note that even today some rites of passage may include the taking of an additional name. It’s my understanding that as part of the Catholic confirmation ritual, comfirmants will take an additional name, usually of a saint.