dictionary style plugin

I’m looking for a plugin that is kind of unique. I want to be able to add a name or term so that it displays somewhere. lets say its “Joe Shmo” which posts them all on a home page. then I want to be able to click each one and enter a more detailed description of them.

I was thinking maybe just using post name as the term because I just want the main page to list all the names ie “name1, name2, name3” but I don’t know where to start or how to go about this. I know basic PHP and xhtml/css really well. is there are good basic frame to work with for wordpress that would work for this, or plugin you can suggest?