An array of slots that point to a name is actually a description of the ELF PLT (procedure lookup table), which is how it does dynamic relocation. The difference is the PLT usually points to the GOT (global offset table) not the name, because in a running program names are irrelevant and only addresses and offsets have meaning.

Resolving symbols through the PLT/GOT mechanism is much faster than resolving through string lookup at program startup (or library load). That's one of the main reasons why program startup and library loading is measurably faster on an ELF-based system than on a COFF-based system like Microsoft Windows.