An interesting fact pointed out to me a good while ago was that, of the playable characters in this game, only Squall and Rinoa can have their names changed. A person hypothesized this was significant because it meant you could insert yourself into their positions. FFVIII thus is all about you placing yourself in the love story because you identify with Squall or Rinoa.
What do you think? There must be some reason why only these two can have their names changed.