Thanks for the details, smckenzie,
Please have a look here:
You must drag all your objects* that must be changed into the Object Node List.
Enable Xpresso for a short moment. It needs to be disabled after that!
Now select all the object that needs to be changed in the Object Manager.
Call up the Name Tool. Now, the "Replace" field makes sense, as they all have the same name. (If empty, it searches only for objects with no name, which one can't have). This is now replaced with whatever you place in the "With" field.
*If you need to change it more often, perhaps create a Selection Object
If you like to have the hard-coded names back, leave the "With" field empty while they have all the XPresso-based same name, and use the Name Tool.
All the best