Wondering if I could rename my guard followers to something less generic?

Also, is it possible to examine an NPC's stats using the console, ie how much health they have left?

You can't rename objects in morrowind, but its possible with MWSE.

To see the stats, open the console and click on the NPC.This should change the header of console to that of NPC. Then type, without quotes, "get" and hit enter. Replace with the stat you want to see. So, for health, its "GetHealth" and for strength, "GetStrength" and so on.

Great thanks