Why were the first and second Dalai Lamas given their titles after their deaths?

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14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, 2008.

The first and second Dalai Lamas were not given their titles during their lifetimes because the title "Dalai Lama" did not yet exist as a formal designation for the leaders of the Gelukpa order.

The title was first bestowed upon the third leader of the lineage, Sonam Gyatso, in the 16th century. During a meeting with the Mongol leader Altan Khan, Sonam Gyatso received the honorific title ta-le (Dalai), which is the Mongolian translation of his Tibetan name rgya-mtsho (Gyatso), meaning "ocean."

Following this event, the title was applied retroactively to his two predecessors, Gendun Drupa and Gendun Gyatso, to maintain the continuity of the reincarnate lama lineage.1