This study traces the historical development of the concept of person in Western thought. It begins with an overview of the semantic evolution of the terms originally assigned to the concept, that is to say, the words person, prosopon and hypostasis, showing their theological, christological and anthropological meanings in the light of the reflection of some Patristic theologians. The paper then analyzes the evolution of the concept in Latin philosophy, particularly with the contributions of Boethius in medieval theology. Later, the study shows the modern and contemporary philosophical approaches to the concept and its relations with other anthropological terms; finally, the current meaning of the term is discussed.