I think this is one of the reasons it's hard to find people you know. Very few use there actual name. I never thought about that when naming. I linked it to my blog name. So there could be 100 plus people o know. But without knowing there Steem name it's hard to identify.
As for Steem and whale names I initial thoughts they had weight but after looking at a few wallets. Clearly not. Lol.
There are likely to be many different front ends with the possibility to use the name across all even though only using one or two of them (It happens now). With more people coming in, search and communities will take different forms.