Mario's name used to be "Jumpman"
Mario's first appearance in a video game was in 1981's Donkey Kong. We now know of Donkey Kong as a star of his own games, but in the original Donkey Kong game, Donkey Kong was the villain who kidnapped a damsel in distress. Mario, whose name was "Jumpman" back then, had to rescue the damsel by jumping over barrels that Donkey Kong would throw at him.
