Who gave humans the name human?

The name "human" evolved through centuries of linguistic development rather than being coined by a single person, tracing its roots from Latin "humanus" through Old French "humain" into Middle English and eventually modern English. Ancient Romans used "humanus" to describe earthly, mortal people as distinct from gods or animals, and this term naturally evolved as Latin influenced the developing Romance and Germanic languages of Europe. The transition from Latin to English occurred gradually through cultural contact, scholarly writing, and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, which introduced many French-derived words into English vocabulary.

While no individual "gave" us this name, Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who formalized biological taxonomy in the 18th century, cemented our scientific designation as Homo sapiens in his 1758 work "Systema Naturae." Linnaeus systematically classified all known living things using binomial nomenclature (two-part Latin names), placing humans in the genus Homo alongside what he believed were other human-like species. His choice to use "sapiens" (wise, knowing) reflected Enlightenment-era emphasis on human rationality and reason as our defining characteristic. This scientific naming complemented rather than replaced the common word "human," which had already been in widespread English use for centuries. The parallel existence of both scientific and common names reflects how language serves different purposes—technical precision for scientific discourse and familiar accessibility for everyday communication.