A recent exchange of views involving E. J. Lowe and Tom Baldwin1 raises several important issues about modality. The soundness of Saul Kripke's argument for the necessity of identity is brought into doubt; the adequacy of standard modal syntax in expressing essentialist claims is questioned; the univocality of 'Da = a' is challenged. I propose to put down these challenges, and in the process make the relationship of essentialism, reference with proper names, and standard modal syntax a little clearer.