In ancient times the name of a person was a word or phrase, taken from their language, charecteristic of that person. As an example the name Adam means "man" in the Semitic language since Adam was the first "man". Eve means "life" becuase Eve is "the mother of all the living" (Genesis 3:20). Below is a list of the names, and their meanings, found from Genesis chapter one to chapter five. Each of these names are of Semitic origin as the words used within the names are Semitic words.

According to the Biblical account Noah and his three sons and their wives escaped a catastrophic flood in a boat. At some point after the flood, the descendents of Noah began to build the "Tower of Babel". At which time God came down and confused their languages and the "Tower" was abandoned and the people scattered across the land, "each to his own tribe and language". This event occured sometime after the birth of Shem, Ham and Japheth's children. Below is a list of the names of their descendents as found in Genesis chapter ten.

When we examine all the names of Adams descendents to Noah's children, we find that all of the names are of Semitic origin. From Noah's grandchildren to the time of Abraham we find that the names are Semitic as well as of "foreign" origin indicating a language unrelated to the Semitic language. These names of "foreign" origin begin to appear at about the same time as the construction of the "Tower of Babel" where God confuses their languages.

Since all of the names up to the time of the "Tower of Babel" are of Semitic origin it is most likely that the Semitic language existed from Adam to the "Tower of Babel". It is possible that these names were translated into Semitic names because the writers of these accounts were Semitic, but if this were true, why didn't they translate the other names which are of "foreign" origin?

Based on this evidence it would appear that the Semitic language was the first language of man.