diff --git a/developer/src/kmc-kmn/test/fixtures/invalid-keyboards/error_name_contains_invalid_character-deadkey.kmn b/developer/src/kmc-kmn/test/fixtures/invalid-keyboards/error_name_contains_invalid_character-deadkey.kmn
index 1ed6c69f7c..83588fe15b 100644
--- a/developer/src/kmc-kmn/test/fixtures/invalid-keyboards/error_name_contains_invalid_character-deadkey.kmn
+++ b/developer/src/kmc-kmn/test/fixtures/invalid-keyboards/error_name_contains_invalid_character-deadkey.kmn
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ store(&NAME) 'error_name_contains_invalid_character-deadkey'
 begin unicode > use(main)
 
 group(main) using keys
+
+  c the character between `test` and `test` below is a U+007F DEL, which may not
+  c be visible in all contexts.
+
   deadkey(testtest) + [K_A] > 'a'
 
 
diff --git a/developer/src/kmc-kmn/test/fixtures/invalid-keyboards/error_name_contains_invalid_character-group.kmn b/developer/src/kmc-kmn/test/fixtures/invalid-keyboards/error_name_contains_invalid_character-group.kmn
index 29292ba129..15e3325a41 100644
--- a/developer/src/kmc-kmn/test/fixtures/invalid-keyboards/error_name_contains_invalid_character-group.kmn
+++ b/developer/src/kmc-kmn/test/fixtures/invalid-keyboards/error_name_contains_invalid_character-group.kmn
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ store(&NAME) 'error_name_contains_invalid_character-group'
 
 begin unicode > use(main)
 
+c the character between `test` and `test` below is a U+007F DEL, which may not
+c be visible in all contexts.
+
 group(testtest) using keys
   + [K_A] > 'a'
 
diff --git a/developer/src/kmc-kmn/test/fixtures/invalid-keyboards/error_name_contains_invalid_character-store.kmn b/developer/src/kmc-kmn/test/fixtures/invalid-keyboards/error_name_contains_invalid_character-store.kmn
index aa698f57e4..c73f7c5382 100644
--- a/developer/src/kmc-kmn/test/fixtures/invalid-keyboards/error_name_contains_invalid_character-store.kmn
+++ b/developer/src/kmc-kmn/test/fixtures/invalid-keyboards/error_name_contains_invalid_character-store.kmn
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ store(&NAME) 'error_name_contains_invalid_character-store'
 
 begin unicode > use(main)
 
+c the character between `test` and `test` below is a U+007F DEL, which may not
+c be visible in all contexts.
+
 store(testtest) 'test'
 
 group(main) using keys
diff --git a/developer/src/kmcmplib/src/validation.cpp b/developer/src/kmcmplib/src/validation.cpp
index 0c71bf25fc..b245aee721 100644
--- a/developer/src/kmcmplib/src/validation.cpp
+++ b/developer/src/kmcmplib/src/validation.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ KMX_BOOL Uni_IsControlCharacter(KMX_WCHAR ch);
 /*
   Unicode version 16.0; GC=Zs.
 
+  List of all space characters in Unicode 16.0, by General Category Zs:
+
   0020;SPACE;Zs;0;WS;;;;;N;;;;;
   00A0;NO-BREAK SPACE;Zs;0;CS;<noBreak> 0020;;;;N;NON-BREAKING SPACE;;;;
   1680;OGHAM SPACE MARK;Zs;0;WS;;;;;N;;;;;
@@ -74,17 +76,17 @@ KMX_BOOL Uni_IsControlCharacter(KMX_WCHAR ch) {
     (ch >= 0x007F && ch <= 0x009F);
 }
 
-KMX_BOOL Validation::ValidateIdentifier(KMX_WCHAR const *p, size_t maxLength) {
+KMX_BOOL Validation::ValidateIdentifier(KMX_WCHAR const *name, size_t maxLength) {
   // whitespace already trimmed from start and end
 
-  // length of group name > 0
-  if(*p == 0) {
+  // length of name > 0
+  if(*name == 0) {
     this->compilerMessage.report(KmnCompilerMessages::ERROR_NameMustBeAtLeastOneCharLong);
     return FALSE;
   }
 
-  // length of group name within bounds, cater for terminating \0
-  if(u16len(p) >= maxLength) {
+  // length of name within bounds, cater for terminating \0
+  if(u16len(name) >= maxLength) {
     this->compilerMessage.report(KmnCompilerMessages::ERROR_NameMustBeAtMostNCharsLong, {std::to_string(maxLength - 1)});
     return FALSE;
   }
@@ -93,7 +95,7 @@ KMX_BOOL Validation::ValidateIdentifier(KMX_WCHAR const *p, size_t maxLength) {
   // close paren automatically impossible due to earlier phases in parser, but
   // including here for completeness.
   // TODO: incxstr should be `KMX_WCHAR const *`
-  for(auto q = p; *q; q = incxstr(const_cast<KMX_WCHAR *>(q))) {
+  for(auto q = name; *q; q = incxstr(const_cast<KMX_WCHAR *>(q))) {
     if(!Uni_IsValidCharacter(q)) {
       this->compilerMessage.report(KmnCompilerMessages::ERROR_NameContainsInvalidCharacter);
       return FALSE;