lupine cotillion Ha!
Well--though less accurate than tsuwm's find, I offer
recognition as a key. Not always recognition of the name itself; often we go by context. (And sometimes we literally have no clue.)
I decided to try looking up definitions, and this one seems to offer a hint:
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
proper noun
–noun Grammar. a noun that is not normally preceded by an article or other limiting modifier, as any or some, and that is arbitrarily used to denote a particular person, place, or thing without regard to any descriptive meaning the word or phrase may have, as Lincoln, Beth, Pittsburgh.
Also called proper name. link
