.tc entries question

[Jonathan Bartlett]

Another 64-bit Elf question, this one about the TOC.  In many examples,
for defining toc entries, there is some syntax like this:

name_to_refer_to_this:
.tc seemingly_unused_name[TC], data_here

I haven't figured out what the purpose of the name immediately preceding
[TC] is.  In fact, it seems that in most cases it can simply be left out.
Is this just a holdover from a previous binary format, or does
"seemingly_unused_name" actually get used in some fashion?

Thanks,

Jon