This paper deals with the way proper names (Npr) produce sense. In the context of praxematic theory, we analyse couples of proper names formed by a brand and/or product name and by the prototypical proper name that is behind it. Almost all brand and product names are derived from prototypical proper names, anthroponyms or, more rarely, toponyms. For instance, Calvin Klein and CK fragrances have taken their creator’s name, while the Paris fragrance uses the toponym that designates the capital of France. Firstly, we analyse the mechanisms at work during the updating of anthroponym- or toponym-originated brand and product names in advertising discourse, as well as in advertising “a-discourse” (i.e the creation of these names) outside of an established discursive context. The aim is to compare the semantic properties of the prototypical proper names on the one hand with the brand and product names on the other. Secondly, we examine the way in which brand and product names are derived from anthroponyms and toponyms. We point out the dynamics of the discursive strategies that highlight the different representations of the proper name’s referent—be it a prototypical or a brand and product name. Finally, we draw some conclusions about the semantic and discursive functioning of proper names in general, considering the fact that the proper names concerned by this work are, in our view, at the two extremes of the grammatical category of proper name.