object names from character strings

I realize this is probably pretty basic but I can't figure it out.

I'm looping through an array, doing various calculations and producing a 
resulting data frame in each loop iteration.  I need to give each data 
frame a different name.  Although I can easily create a new character 
string for writing each frame to an output file, I cannot figure out how 
to convert such strings to corresponding object names within the R 
workspace itself, so as to give each d.f. a distinct name.  The closest 
I got were various attempts with the as.name function, but couldn't get 
that to work either.  Any help appreciated.  Thanks.

Jim Bouldin, PhD
Research Ecologist