LR's recognition of which interchangeable lens was used, depends on a Lens ID code that has been written into the metadata of the image (Raw or JPG) by the camera body.
It's also dependent on this code being in LR's own lookup lists. LR then displays whatever lens name it has, relating to that code.
Either a code has been electronically communicated by the lens to the camera body, or for non-electronic types of lens a more general coding is deduced by the camera body, working from physical properties of the lens (such as, whether it has got auto or manual aperture stop-down).
For lenses belonging to the camera brand, ID code is generally made to be unique so recognition is generally correct. For lenses by a third-party manufacturer such as Sigma or Tokina, the lens manufacturer may not, or may not be able to, ensure that this code is unique. If not, there may be several lenses in existence that all produce the identical lens ID code, from that camera model. So LR cannot distinguish them - and if LR's recognition list names one lens that produces that code, and you've actually used a different lens that produces the same code, the incorrect naming will show unavoidably.
The user cannot edit this recognition list. But the text shown can be altered in external metadata, and read back in, for example using the plugin "Lenstagger".
Regardless, whether the correct descriptive name shows or not, you can still associate (set as default) the particular lens profile that you want, to be used whenever this particular lens ID is found. So in this instance, you can make sure the Sigma profile gets used rather than a Tokina one.
When IDs are non-unique because of legacy lenses, one can use other clues in order to make the right thing happen. Example: my Pentax dslr reports "A series lens" whenever a lens is mounted that is pre-electronic, but that is mechanically detected to possess an auto aperture stop-down lever. And when such a lens was mounted and the camera turned on, the user was prompted to choose a focal length (to make shake reduction work properly). And this entered focal length gets passed through in the image metadata. So I can distinguish my different A series lenses within LR by focal length COMBINED WITH basic lens recognition, and then apply the needed lens profile for each photo. I then also keyword these particular lenses - so don't need to see the correct descriptive lens name in the usual field.
hth - RP
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