The problem is that handling names semantically "correctly" is a logistical nightmare that is even more difficult than dealing with timestamps and time zones.

The problem is that handling names semantically "correctly" is a logistical nightmare that is even more difficult than dealing with timestamps and time zones. No sane person thinks it's a good idea to just roll their own time zone implementation routinely, but people usually think rolling their own name handling system is a good idea. The purpose of patio11's advice is specifically to discourage people from doing that. And fortunately for names there are some reasonably good options, such as avoiding trying to handle names semantically at all and instead leaving them as more or less freeform user data.