Donkey Kong was the first game Mario appeared in, his name was Jumpman originally, but he was given the name 'Mario' in Donkey Kong Junior, in 1982. The first game with Mario in the name, was Mario Bros, in 1983, the game that introduced him as an Italian-American plumber, with his brother Luigi.

Mario was called jumpman during the days of Mario vs donkey kong

The game that Mario officially became Mario, was supposed to be in his original game Donkey Kong, (Where in the game he was called Jumpman because Donkey Kong was the first ever game to have a jump button) But he was officially named Mario in his original Classic, Super Mario Bros for the NES.

Jumpman happened in 1983.

Shigeru Miyamoto or the Jumpman. People started calling him that after he released Mario. The original name for Mario was Jumpman in the arcade game Donkey-Kong.