The article is devoted to the problem of the translation of the meaningful anthroponyms in Pelevin’s novels. The paper discusses names and surnames that were hard to covert from Russian into the Polish language due to various factors. These factors are often a challenge for translators. Pelevin created these names because of specific word associations and ambiguity. The described factors are also elements of the category of foreignness, which can be difficult to perceive for the readers of the translation. The emphasis is put on the translator’s imagination and creative individual approach to each lexical element and its function in the text. The essential thing is the perspective of the recipients who have a different cultural background.