The article is devoted to the study of the proper names of the literary heroes — important elements of an artistic work, means of creating an image. The names of literary heroes carry a semantic load, a number of hidden associations, as well as the expression of basic connotations (national, regional, social, chronological, emotional, and expressive).
 The writer's linguistic skill is directly related to the strategy of well-chosen character names. For many authors, this strategy is the leading one. Modern Ukrainian writer Volodymyr Lys is no exception.
 The goal is to study the proper names of the literary heroes that function in the novel "Bethlehem" by Volodymyr Lys. Our task is to reveal the information that is encrypted in the name of the hero and that forms the image.
 The triptych novel "Bethlehem" by Volodymyr Lys, consisting of three parts "Child", "Fire", "Home", is united by a symbolic title. The title of the novel, as well as the titles of each part, carry relevant information.
 It is proved that the proper names of the literary heroes that function in the novel by V. Lys are formed on the basis of real and invented anthroponyms, and their potential is limitless. The study of the proper names of the literary heroes of the novel made it possible to reveal the individual and stylistic features of the proper names of the characters, the creation of which is influenced by a wide variety of factors. The names of the characters, endowed with a wealth of stylistic functions and significant expressive possibilities, are an integral element of the literary text.
 Among the categories of the proper names of the literary heroes, names are the most frequent (names of gods, people of different historical periods, different anthroposystems, invented and real). It was found that the names of the main characters are informative and evaluative, they contain the shades of expression. We also investigated the originality of surnames, nicknames, and pseudonyms of literary heroes. 
 Attention is drawn to a special type of the proper names of the literary heroes – abstract-onyms (abstract concepts that have become onyms).
 The article proves that the proper names of the literary heroes in the novel by V. Lys are important elements of his stylistics, while carrying information they are playing an active role in creating the general imagery of the work. Such information is contained in the pre-onym semantics of the basis of the proper name of the literary hero, it is revealed through the verbal author's characteristic of the hero, and is expressed by the basic connotations of the real anthroponym in its literary prototype.