This paper takes a look at two leading theories of naming and identity, namely the description theory pioneered by Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell, and the causal theory pioneered by John Stuart Mill, Saul Kripke, and Hilary Putnam. The relevance of these two theories for the practice of translating proper names in view of the current discussion on similarity and equivalence is discussed. There is no doubt that these theories of naming and identity influence how proper names are viewed. According to the description theory a proper name generates a set of definite descriptions or features, which uniquely define or identify it. The causal theory of proper names has been understood to be asserting that a proper name refers to its referent due to an existing historical connection linking the present use or utterance of the name to an initial use at a christening or naming of the individual or object bearing that same name.