;; -*- lexical-binding: t -*-
;;
;; this file:
;;   https://dataswamp.org/~incal/emacs-init/char.el

(defun what-char (&optional pos)
  (interactive "P")
  (let*((position (or (and (numberp pos) pos)
                      (point) ))
        (kill pos)
        (char (char-after position)) )
    (when char
      (let*((name     (get-char-code-property char 'name))
            (old-name (get-char-code-property char 'old-name))
            (msg (if (and name old-name)
                     (format "%s (old: %s)" name old-name)
                   (or name old-name) ))
            (msg-dc (when (stringp msg)
                      (downcase msg) )))
        (when msg-dc
          (prog1 msg-dc
            (when kill
              (kill-new msg-dc) )
            (message "%s (at point: %d)" msg-dc position) ))))))

;; (what-char)                  ; "space"
;; (what-char 754)              ; "right parenthesis (old: closing parenthesis)"
;; C-u 754 M-x what-char RET    ; same, but also killed
;; C-u M-x what-char RET* (C-y) ; asterisk is yanked
;; M-x what-char RET            ; line feed (lf) (at point: 1034)