Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to offer an overview of some of the most relevant and at the same time controversial aspects of proper names over this last century. Therefore, the intention is not to go deeply into all the issues related to proper names, though special attention will be paid to one of them for its importance, namely, the discussion as to whether proper names have sense or meaning associated to them or whether they are directly referential expressions. In the same way, only a few of all the authors who have made theories, comments or analyses about proper names will be mentioned in this article. The subject of proper names is complex enough in spite of its apparent simplicity, so as to leave many lines of analysis open, which are not deeply dealt with in this presentation