Who first called the language family Niger-Congo?

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Thematic map of Africa showing the distribution of Niger-Congo language branches. Distinct colors represent language groups such as Atlantic, Mande, Gur, Kwa, Benue-Congo, and Bantu, with Bantu languages covering most of central, eastern, and southern Africa. A numbered key lists prominent languages in each area, and country borders are marked for reference. — Niger-Congo languages Map showing the branches and distribution of the Niger-Congo languages.

The American linguist Joseph H. Greenberg was the first to use the name Niger-Congo to describe this language family.1

During the 1940s and 1950s, Greenberg established that the languages previously categorized by Diedrich Westermann as Western Sudanic, along with the Bantu languages, formed a single genetic family. He coined the term Niger-Congo to reflect the prevalence of these languages within the basins of the Niger and Congo rivers.1