You don't seem to understand. They're not petitioning Congress for a name... they're petitioning congress for equal footing in the republic.
No, you don't understand. They're coming, hat in hand, to the other states asking to be admitted. To, in effect, be created as a state. And the other states may, through their representatives in Congress, say no. Until Congress says yes then they have no status in the body politic. They are a territory, without elective representation unless Congress gives it's OK. They aren't in the same league as a state much less equal footing.