This little function below shows how to set a variable name to a variable value. I first set the variable name ryan to the value "var1" then I set another variable - but instead of using a specific string, I use the variable "ryan". At the end I display the value of the variable "var1" which is "Hello World".
<cfoutput>
<cfset ryan = "var1">
<cfset "#ryan#" = "Hello World">
#var1#
</cfoutput>