OK - made it.
It is odd that if you edit the name in the graphic area it allows you to change it, but if you try to do it in the “edit filed properties” screen you cannot.
This actually brings up another question - in the graphic area the field is called “component name” while in the filed properties screen it is called “value”.
I always found it odd that there is no actual filed to “component name” and “value” is the singular field that identifies the component. This is sometime a problem. Say I have two resistors in the same library, both 10k only different power (or accuracy) - I would expect to be able to give each its own name and have them both with the same value. As it is now I have to give them different values that identify both resistance and power/accuracy, but this causes problems in displaying. Seems that right now the only proper way to handle it is to hide the value field, add a custom field for resistance and have it displayed.