This article aims to bring new answers to the issue of the so-called “denominative” conception of proper nouns that some critics have been able to identify. Our aim, firstly, is to show that proper nouns have, by definition, a denominative and an ontological constraint; secondly, to characterise the difference in level and reach of the denominative relation between proper nouns and common nouns; and thirdly, to eliminate a pervasive error within the literature on proper nouns, namely the misconception that the reference of a proper name must be unique and individual.