Rad predstavlja pokušaj čitanja Nabokovljevog romana Bleda vatra u svetlu književne onomastike pri čemu se posebna pažnja posvećuje imenovanju likova. Teorijski okvir oslanja se na uvide raznih poddisciplina onomastike, od hronološkog prikaza razvoja discipline, preko najvažnijih odlika književne onomastike kao relativno nove akademske discipline. U tom smislu, rad pokušava da primeni ovaj pristup na čitanje književnog dela. Analitički deo rada bavi se imenima četiri glavna lika u romanu, odnosno, njihovim mitološkim, značenjskim, simboličkim i ironijskim dimenzijama i potencijalnim tumačenjima koja iz takve analize proističu. Jedna od ključnih pretpostavki rada je da se značenje, kako imena likova tako i samog romana, otkriva u interakciji između različitih simboličkih značenja i implikacija, kroz svojevrsnu „igru” poetske istine i laži. Zaključak je da Nabokov vešto koristi značenja i simboliku imena kako bi ih ugradio u strukturu Blede vatre i, na neki način, dodatno zakomplikovao već ionako dovoljno kompleksan odnos stvarnosti i mašte i čudne spone paralelnih interpretacija književnog dela i sveta oko nas.

The paper is an attempt to offer a reading of Vladimir Nabokov’s Pale Fire in light of literary onomastics with a special emphasis on characters’ names and naming. The theoretical framework is based on various subdisciplines of onomastics, its chronology and, especially, the development of literary onomastics and its insights. As this is a rather novel academic area of interest, this is an attempt of integrating this framework of analysis into the reading of a well-known novel. The paper analyzes the names of four major characters in the novel and their mythological, semiotic, symbolical and ironic components and possible interpretations. One of the key hypotheses is that the meanings of both the novel and individual characters and their names is construed in the interaction of various symbolical meanings and implications, i.e., through an interplay of poetic truth and fiction. It can be concluded that Nabokov’s major strength as a writer lies in his use of meanings and symbolism of names which make the structure of the novel as complex as a relationship between truth and fiction both in the world of the novel and its various interpretations and in the material world around us.