diff --git a/Memory.xml b/Memory.xml
index bb0c78fdd..775eee771 100644
--- a/Memory.xml
+++ b/Memory.xml
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@
                 <Offset name="first" description="Lowercase stl string with the first name. For ex. 'urist'" />
                 <Offset name="nick"  description="Stl string with the nickname. Set by the player." />
                 <Offset name="second_words" description="Array of 7 indexes into the language vectors."/>
+                <Offset name="parts_of_speech" description="Array of 7 16-bit indexes into the language vectors."/>
+                <Offset name="language" description="Language of the name."/>
+                <Offset name="has_name" description="Boolean flag."/>
             </Group>
         </Offsets>
     </Base>
@@ -782,6 +785,9 @@
                 <Offset name="first" description="Lowercase stl string with the first name. For ex. 'urist'" />
                 <Offset name="nick"  description="Stl string with the nickname. Set by the player." />
                 <Offset name="second_words" description="Array of 7 indexes into the language vectors."/>
+                <Offset name="parts_of_speech" description="Array of 7 16-bit indexes into the language vectors."/>
+                <Offset name="language" description="Language of the name."/>
+                <Offset name="has_name" description="Boolean flag."/>
             </Group>
             <Group name="Position" description="Offsets used by the Position module.">
                 <Address name="window_x" description="X coordinate of the current view (DWORD)" />
@@ -1068,6 +1074,9 @@
                 <Offset name="first" value="0x0" />
                 <Offset name="nick" value="0x1C" />
                 <Offset name="second_words" value="0x38" />
+                <Offset name="parts_of_speech" value="0x54" />
+                <Offset name="language" value="0x64" />
+                <Offset name="has_name" value="0x68" />
             </Group>
             <Group name="Position">
                 <Address name="window_x" value="0xe32798" />
@@ -1605,6 +1614,9 @@
                 <Offset name="first" value="0x0" />
                 <Offset name="nick" value="0x1C" />
                 <Offset name="second_words" value="0x38" />
+                <Offset name="parts_of_speech" value="0x54" />
+                <Offset name="language" value="0x64" />
+                <Offset name="has_name" value="0x68" />
             </Group>
             <Group name="Position">
                 <Address name="cursor_xyz" value="0xac77f0" />
@@ -2215,6 +2227,9 @@
                 <Offset name="first" value="0x0" />
                 <Offset name="nick" value="0x4" />
                 <Offset name="second_words" value="0x8" />
+                <Offset name="parts_of_speech" value="0x24" />
+                <Offset name="language" value="0x34" />
+                <Offset name="has_name" value="0x3a" />
             </Group>
             <Group name="Position">
                 <Address name="window_x" value="0x8cc9b38" />
diff --git a/library/ContextShared.cpp b/library/ContextShared.cpp
index 0dd099b3c..840acec64 100644
--- a/library/ContextShared.cpp
+++ b/library/ContextShared.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@ bool DFContextShared::InitReadNames()
     name_firstname_offset = OG->getOffset("first");
     name_nickname_offset = OG->getOffset("nick");
     name_words_offset = OG->getOffset("second_words");
+    name_parts_offset = OG->getOffset("parts_of_speech");
+    name_language_offset = OG->getOffset("language");
+    name_set_offset = OG->getOffset("has_name");
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -42,5 +45,25 @@ void DFContextShared::readName(t_name & name, uint32_t address)
 {
     p->readSTLString(address + name_firstname_offset , name.first_name, 128);
     p->readSTLString(address + name_nickname_offset , name.nickname, 128);
-    p->read(address + name_words_offset ,28, (uint8_t *) name.words);
+    p->read(address + name_words_offset, 7*4, (uint8_t *)name.words);
+    p->read(address + name_parts_offset, 7*2, (uint8_t *)name.parts_of_speech);
+    name.language = p->readDWord(address + name_language_offset);
+    name.has_name = p->readByte(address + name_set_offset);
+}
+
+void DFContextShared::copyName(uint32_t address, uint32_t target)
+{
+    uint8_t buf[28];
+
+    if (address == target)
+        return;
+
+    p->copySTLString(address + name_firstname_offset, target + name_firstname_offset);
+    p->copySTLString(address + name_nickname_offset, target + name_nickname_offset);
+    p->read(address + name_words_offset, 7*4, buf);
+    p->write(target + name_words_offset, 7*4, buf);
+    p->read(address + name_parts_offset, 7*2, buf);
+    p->write(target + name_parts_offset, 7*2, buf);
+    p->writeDWord(target + name_language_offset, p->readDWord(address + name_language_offset));
+    p->writeByte(target + name_set_offset, p->readByte(address + name_set_offset));
 }
diff --git a/library/DFProcess-linux.cpp b/library/DFProcess-linux.cpp
index 6d91b162d..ca8d835f4 100644
--- a/library/DFProcess-linux.cpp
+++ b/library/DFProcess-linux.cpp
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ namespace {
             const std::string readSTLString (uint32_t offset);
             size_t readSTLString (uint32_t offset, char * buffer, size_t bufcapacity);
             void writeSTLString(const uint32_t address, const std::string writeString){};
+            void copySTLString(const uint32_t address, const uint32_t target);
             // get class name of an object with rtti/type info
             std::string readClassName(uint32_t vptr);
     };
@@ -161,6 +162,29 @@ const string NormalProcess::readSTLString (uint32_t offset)
     return ret;
 }
 
+void NormalProcess::copySTLString (uint32_t offset, uint32_t target)
+{
+    _Rep_base header;
+
+    offset = Process::readDWord(offset);
+    uint32_t old_target = Process::readDWord(target);
+
+    if (offset == old_target)
+        return;
+
+    read(offset - sizeof(_Rep_base),sizeof(_Rep_base),(uint8_t *)&header);
+
+    // destroying the leaked state
+    if (header._M_refcount == -1)
+        header._M_refcount = 1;
+    else
+        header._M_refcount++;
+
+    write(offset - sizeof(_Rep_base),sizeof(_Rep_base),(uint8_t *)&header);
+
+    writeDWord(target, offset);
+}
+
 string NormalProcess::readClassName (uint32_t vptr)
 {
     int typeinfo = Process::readDWord(vptr - 0x4);
diff --git a/library/include/dfhack/DFProcess.h b/library/include/dfhack/DFProcess.h
index f8c12a22f..12e82ae22 100644
--- a/library/include/dfhack/DFProcess.h
+++ b/library/include/dfhack/DFProcess.h
@@ -163,6 +163,10 @@ namespace DFHack
             virtual size_t readSTLString (uint32_t offset, char * buffer, size_t bufcapacity) = 0;
             /// write an STL string
             virtual void writeSTLString(const uint32_t address, const std::string writeString) = 0;
+            /// share the string at source with target; may leak target
+            virtual void copySTLString(const uint32_t address, const uint32_t target) {
+                writeSTLString(target, readSTLString(address));
+            }
             /// read a STL vector
             virtual void readSTLVector(const uint32_t address, t_vecTriplet & triplet) = 0;
             /// get class name of an object with rtti/type info
diff --git a/library/include/dfhack/modules/Creatures.h b/library/include/dfhack/modules/Creatures.h
index 6a1218dd8..3d0520c40 100644
--- a/library/include/dfhack/modules/Creatures.h
+++ b/library/include/dfhack/modules/Creatures.h
@@ -341,6 +341,8 @@ namespace DFHack
         bool WritePos(const uint32_t index, const t_creature &creature);
         bool WriteCiv(const uint32_t index, const int32_t civ);
 
+        void CopyNameTo(t_creature &creature, uint32_t address);
+
     private:
         struct Private;
         Private *d;
diff --git a/library/modules/Creatures.cpp b/library/modules/Creatures.cpp
index 9e91a1e76..daa31ead9 100644
--- a/library/modules/Creatures.cpp
+++ b/library/modules/Creatures.cpp
@@ -686,3 +686,12 @@ bool Creatures::ReadInventoryPtr(const uint32_t temp, std::vector<uint32_t> & it
         item[i] = p->readDWord(citem[i]);
     return true;
 }
+
+void Creatures::CopyNameTo(t_creature &creature, uint32_t address)
+{
+    Private::t_offsets &offs = d->creatures;
+
+    if(d->Ft_basic)
+        d->d->copyName(creature.origin + offs.name_offset, address);
+}
+
diff --git a/library/private/ContextShared.h b/library/private/ContextShared.h
index 727bb8a0e..f8b24491e 100644
--- a/library/private/ContextShared.h
+++ b/library/private/ContextShared.h
@@ -56,11 +56,15 @@ namespace DFHack
 
         // names, used by a few other modules.
         void readName(t_name & name, uint32_t address);
+        void copyName(uint32_t address, uint32_t target);
         // get the name offsets
         bool InitReadNames();
         uint32_t name_firstname_offset;
         uint32_t name_nickname_offset;
         uint32_t name_words_offset;
+        uint32_t name_parts_offset;
+        uint32_t name_language_offset;
+        uint32_t name_set_offset;
         bool namesInited;
 
         ProcessEnumerator* pm;