Abstract
Divine names, i.e. the names religions use to speak of their god(s), pose a special problem to
semantics. It is not only disputed whether they are proper names, descriptions, or names of
kinds, the dispute between believers and non-believers over the ontological status of their
bearers is a further obstacle to offering a single theory that can account for all divine names.
But aboutness theory can come to the rescue here. Whatever terms divine names are, they
pick out a subject matter, and whereas ontology is relevant to reference, subject matters need
no corresponding object in the world. Believers and non-believers can therefore agree on the
name bearers’ status as topics of their conversation.