If you insist, here is some horrible inspect-based solution.
import inspect, re
def varname(p):
for line in inspect.getframeinfo(inspect.currentframe().f_back)[3]:
m = re.search(r'\bvarname\s*\(\s*([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)\s*\)', line)
if m:
return m.group(1)
if __name__ == '__main__':
spam = 42
print varname(spam)
I hope it will inspire you to reevaluate the problem you have and look for another approach.