Abstract: Empty names trouble the philosophers, represented by S. Kripke, who accept the Theory of Direct Reference for proper names. The fundamentals about fictional names which acted as one kind of empty names are clear in the paper “Vacuous Names and Fictional Entities” written by S. Kripke. Based on the interpretation of this paper, We will purpose to defend the Theory of Direct Reference, drawing the following conclusions: in the framework of Direct Reference Theory, fictional names are not the same as ordinary proper names. There are three reasons. Firstly, fictional names are meaningful, and their essence is a cluster of definite descriptions. Secondly, fictional names have referents which are called abstract entities of a specific type. Thirdly, in the actual world, those statements containing fictional names pretend to express propositions.

Key words: fictional names, clusters of description, abstract entity, pretending to express propositions