Abstract: The propositionalism theory of reference, using methodological deflationism to analyse reference, defines the notion of reference which applies primarily to propositional constituents. The propositionalism theory of reference gives a new approach to understanding the reference relations between language and the world, which offers a new solution to the problem of empty names. The problems of empty names include, whether empty names have meaning, whether sentences containing empty names express propositions, whether sentences containing empty names have truth and so on. From the view of the propositionalism theory of reference, the meaning of empty names is their basic acceptance property, sentences containing empty names express propositions, the truth of these sentences depends on the meaning-to-truth equivalence schema. The propositionalism theory of reference makes up for the deficiency of the semantic solution of the Gappy Proposition.