Where do number suffixes in symbol names come from?

[john smith <wempwer@xxxxxxxxx>]

All static symbol have a short number attached to its name, for example:

static const int def[9999999] = {1};

shows up as:

0000000000400920 r def.2802

What does this number represent? I know I can change it using
__asm__("def").

I read this https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=40831 and
this https://patchwork.ozlabs.org/patch/118607/ but I couldn't find a
definitive explanations of what these numbers mean.

-- 
<wempwer@xxxxxxxxx>