Full Idea
Quine says that names need not be part of one's canonical notation; in fact, whatever scientific purposes are accomplished by names can be carried out just as well by the devices of quantification, variables and predicates.
Gist of Idea
Canonical notation needs quantification, variables and predicates, but not names
Source
report of Willard Quine (On What There Is [1948]) by Alex Orenstein - W.V. Quine Ch.2
Book Reference
Orenstein,Alex: 'W.V. Quine' [Princeton 2002], p.27
A Reaction
This is part of Quine's analysis of where the ontological commitment of a language is to be found. Kripke's notion that a name baptises an item comes as a challenge to this view.