Pat, let me make an example.
I have a gradient called "Jeans.ggr".
Its internal decriptive name is also "Jeans" (you may see it by editing the file Jeans.ggr with for instance Notepad++.
Look:
GIMP Gradient
Name: Jeans
3
0.000000 0.140575 0.313099 0.419608 0.439216 0.521569 1.000000 0.443137 0.458824 0.545098 1.000000 0 0 0 0
0.313099 0.577210 0.739084 0.443137 0.458824 0.545098 1.000000 0.592157 0.607843 0.674510 1.000000 0 0 0 0
0.739084 0.938232 1.000000 0.592157 0.607843 0.674510 1.000000 0.760784 0.768627 0.823529 1.000000 0 0 0 0
Assume I want to change its name to something different because there is only one of my gradients called that way but four similar called "...Denim...".
Hence I want to have it in that set.
I decided to call it "my Denim for Jeans" hoping that having Denim included in its external name would suffice.
Wrong: the gradient still appears in the gradients panel as simply "Jeans" and it's not selected among the other "...Denim..." if I enter the word "Denim" as the searching text in the filter.
I had to edit it with Notepad++ and change the second line of the text from "Name: Jeans" to "Name: my Denim for Jeans".
Look:
GIMP Gradient
Name: my Denim for Jeans
3
0.000000 0.140575 0.313099 0.419608 0.439216 0.521569 1.000000 0.443137 0.458824 0.545098 1.000000 0 0 0 0
0.313099 0.577210 0.739084 0.443137 0.458824 0.545098 1.000000 0.592157 0.607843 0.674510 1.000000 0 0 0 0
0.739084 0.938232 1.000000 0.592157 0.607843 0.674510 1.000000 0.760784 0.768627 0.823529 1.000000 0 0 0 0
Restarting/Refreshing now it appears with the new name and it's taken into account when I enter "Denim" as searching text for Gradients in my filter. The info message of the filter says now that it used 5 gradients for choosing among.
Hope I've been enough clear.
You may do the same experiment.