matnames returns matrix row and column names as locals in r(). The macro extended functions that retrieve matrix row and column names do not quote the names, so that if names contain spaces, the number of tokens may not match the number of rows or columns (that is, you may not be able to rename the matrix rows or columns with its own names that you just retrieved). matnames uses the Mata functions st_matrixrowstripe and st_matrixcolstripe to circumvent this difficulty.