How to get current brush name

I don't know if you ever figured this out. I have the same issue but am now in 2022 version. I have figured out how to do it in 2022. Brush settings window. bottom right the small square with + in it to add brush. It pops up a window with the name of the current brush. LOL, sorry I'm about 9 years too late. Hope it can help you still. 

I'm using Photoshop CC 2019: If you hover long enough over the brush in the list of brushes you recently used: the name will pop up.

I've been puzzled by this for ages but have just double clicked on the highlighted brush in the Brush Settings panel and Photoshop gave me the name.

I have 2 solutions for it using scriptng (they are examples that can be modified) in replies 1 and 14 of this topic, but you may try also r-bin solution: Getting the name of the current brush preset / If you have idea that worked other way, let me know...

This is just a work around, but I've found it's helpful to create a new layer, and give that layer the same name as your tool preset name, so you can look back later for reference. This definitely adds more work though if you switch brushes a lot in the same doc.

I use tool presets - rather than brush presets - and have hundreds.  Like in the OP, I can't remember the names when switching between several while painting or drawing in Photoshop CC 2017. 

My idea was that PS should have something like a swatches palette... when switching colors, I can go to the swatches palette and easily click on a recently used color.  If there was a similar thing for the tool (or brush) presets, then the most recent ones used would be logged on a list separate from the preset palette itself.  Then I could just click on the one I used a few minutes earlier but no longer remember the name of.

This seems like an easy fix and I'm really surprised no one has implement this already.

Chris Cox's explanation is technically correct: as soon as you change any tool option, you are working with a custom tool, not a preset. But what is important to the user, and what the user needs to remember, is the PURPOSE of the tool, which is encapsulated in its name.

Dave Hallows suggested clicking the Create New Tool Preset button.  This pops up a dialog with the name of the current tool preset. This suggests writing an action that copies and pastes from this dialog to ... somewhere.  Perhaps into an extension panel that contains a scrolling text box that allows pasting.  Then whenever you select a brush tool preset, you simply hit a function key that runs the action.

I am a brand new user of brush tool presets and I ran into this problem on day 1.  I'm only using the brush tool presets that come with Photoshop CC, specifically the Mixer Brush Tool Presets.  When I use a Cloner brush (e.g., Cloner Flat Fan), the Sample All Layers option on the toolbar is unchecked.  I may be missing something, but I don't understand how a Cloner brush can clone onto a new transparent layer unless it is sampling from another layer (or layers).  So I check the Sample All Layers button.  As soon as I do so, the tool preset is de-highlighted.

If you go to the Brush Panel in CS5, you can see the current brush thumbnail having a thicker outline.

Hi

Did you ever resolve this? I'm on Creative Cloud PS and it is driving me crackers. Dave Hallows point above does work but when you're using a brush from the a tool preset selection then it gives it a different name to its original.

Cheers