%Name should be available for all actors, not just for NPCs
When you equip a pack to mountable guar in the Abot's Guars mod, such message appears in the log:
Error: Failed to replace escape character, with the following error: Bad LiveCellRef cast to N3ESM3NPCE from N3ESM8CreatureE
Full text below:
[You strap a Mountable Pack Guar Burden to %Name companion. ]
That's because when we encounter a %Name in the dialogue, we try to get actor's name from NPC base record, even if the actor is creature.