> Have the echo area display the name and old-name
> (if available) of the char at point.

Or see the char and its Unicode code point it in the
mode-line, always (in a single buffer or in all).

* Click mouse-1 there to see the full *Help* (what
  `describe-char' shows).

* Click mouse-2 there to set the secondary selection
  to the char.

* Click mouse-3 there to show the char enlarged in
  a tooltip (:height 400).

https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/ModeLineCharacterInfo