Page "Existence" Paragraph 30

According to the direct-reference view, an early version of which was originally proposed by Bertrand Russell, and perhaps earlier by Gottlob Frege, a proper name strictly has no meaning when there is no object to which it refers.

This view relies on the argument that the semantic function of a proper name is to tell us which object bears the name, and thus to identify some object.

But no object can be identified if none exists.

Thus, a proper name must have a bearer if it is to be meaningful.