Sounds like the inbox treating tools also only show the version name and not the commit message, at least not until you select a particular version... is that correct?
When I seek a version anywhere else but in Monticello, I look for the commit message. I don't have to deal with many pull requests, but I am regularly reluctant to remember even the three digits of them. ;-) I always look them up by browsing the pull requests where I see their titles, or I use the helpful issue reference autocompletion of GitHub that displays the titles next to the numbers and allows to search them by typing text. In my opinion, titles and commit messages are far more recognizable than any kind of number or identifier.
I read that one generalized use case is to take the version name to somewhere else for reference (as Nicolas and Eliot wrote). I just re-checked the Monticello repository browser: to copy a version name, you have to select (and download) the version, highlight the name in the text box below and press copy. Might be better to have a "copy version name" command in the pop-up menu of the version list. And a text box in the inbox treating UI where you can paste it... Going to a particular version in the repository browser currently requires you to scroll and look for the version number, or typing its name to filter the list. Both ways really require you to run the number through your mind, and using the filtering is awkward on top because after each keystroke, another version gets selected and downloaded, interrupting your typing. Also, longer numbers with low variance in the most-significant digits would increase that pain. What about a go-to text box above or below the list where you can paste a version name (or UUID in the future?), press enter, and be taken to it, if present? It could even take you to a different package than the one you have selected.
Just to be clear: my point is not to criticize your habits and ways to use the version numbers. But I suspect that the "humanly" requirements imposed on the numbers and version names indicates that there is a lack in the tool chain. Or the design, since you currently have to download a version wholly to get its message and UUID. Improving that might turn out to be better in the long term than sticking with the status quo. And it might solve more problems than just the one Chris is trying to solve here.
How much effort would it be to extend the server side of a Monticello HTTP repository such that it allows to query for the names, UUIDs and message headlines (and cache that information)? Like back in the days before IMAP, when you could opt to just fetch the headers of your emails...
Unfortunately extending the tools does not resolve the compatibility issue with older Squeak images. Or the brevity of the update number, although I am not yet sure whether this one is really worth saving.