I'm wondering if it is possible at all in python to stringify variable id/symbol -- that is, a function that behaves as follows: >>> symbol = 'whatever' >>> symbol_name(symbol) 'symbol' Now, it is easy to do it on a function or a class (if it is a direct reference to the object): >>> def fn(): pass >>> fn.func_name 'fn' But I'm looking for a general method that works on all cases, even for indirect object references. I've thought of somehow using id(var), but no luck yet. Is there any way to do it?