The word "报名" is formed through the direct and logical combination of two meaningful characters: "报" (bào), which means "to report" or "to declare", and "名" (míng), which means "name". When placed together, they create a new, compound concept that visually and conceptually represents the action of "reporting one's name", which naturally extends to the modern meaning of signing up or registering for something, as that process fundamentally begins with submitting your name. It is a straightforward semantic fusion where the sum of the parts clearly conveys the whole action.