It ' s a theory about what namesterms mean . That is , what does it mean when I say Taylor Swift ? Definite descriptions descriptivism is one theory that tries to explain what namesterms mean . Descriptivism says that names are just definite descriptions . What are definite descriptions ? They are descriptions that single out the name you ' re talking about . Here ' s a simple example for the name Taylor SwiftA definite description for Taylor Swift would be , for example , The person who was born on Dec . 13 th , 1989 and the person who has blonde hair and the person who wrote ' Come in with the Rain ' and the person who was born in Pennsylvania , etc . In essence , when we say Taylor Swift , we just mean insert those descriptions here . Likewise , we might take the name Barack Obama , and say that it means The 44 th President of the United States or The man who won the 2008 Election , etc . See these excellent sources 1 .