Leggo l’etichetta due volte, come se cercassi un nome che non conosco.

Because etichetta starts with a vowel, so la normally becomes l’ before it:

• la + etichetta → l’etichetta

This is called elision. It is very common in Italian with singular articles:

• l’amica
• l’idea
• l’ora

So l’etichetta is just the normal form of la etichetta before a vowel.

Italian often drops subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• leggo = I read / I am reading

The ending -o tells you it is first person singular. So io leggo is possible, but usually unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast:

• Io leggo, tu scrivi. = I read, you write.

In your sentence, plain Leggo... sounds natural.

Italian uses the simple present very often where English might use either:

• I read
• I am reading

So Leggo l’etichetta due volte can mean:

• I read the label twice
• I’m reading the label twice

The exact English translation depends on context, but the Italian present tense is perfectly normal here.

Due volte means twice or literally two times.

In the sentence:

• Leggo l’etichetta due volte

it tells you how many times the action happens.

Its position is natural after the object, but Italian word order is somewhat flexible. You could also hear:

• Leggo due volte l’etichetta

That is grammatically possible too, though Leggo l’etichetta due volte is very natural and neutral.

Come se means as if.

It introduces a comparison between what is really happening and what it seems like:

• Leggo l’etichetta due volte, come se cercassi...
• I read the label twice, as if I were looking for...

This structure is extremely common in Italian, but there is an important grammar point: come se is normally followed by the subjunctive.

Because after come se, Italian normally uses the subjunctive mood.

So:

• come se cercassi

is the correct pattern.

Here cercassi is the imperfetto congiuntivo of cercare. It corresponds to English as if I were looking for / as if I looked for.

Compare:

• Cerco un nome. = I’m looking for a name.
• ...come se cercassi un nome. = ...as if I were looking for a name.

So the reason is not past time; it is the grammar of come se.

That is normal after come se.

In Italian, come se usually takes:

• imperfetto congiuntivo for an unreal or imagined situation in the present
• trapassato congiuntivo for an unreal or imagined situation in the past

So:

• Leggo ..., come se cercassi...
  = I read ..., as if I were looking...

And for a past comparison:

• Ho letto ..., come se avessi cercato...
  = I read / had read ..., as if I had been looking...

So cercassi does not mean the action is actually in the past. It is simply the normal tense used after come se for this kind of unreal comparison.

Here che non conosco is very natural because the speaker presents I don’t know that name as a straightforward fact.

• un nome che non conosco = a name that I don’t know

Italian often uses the indicative in relative clauses when the speaker is stating something as real or factual from their point of view.

You may also learn that after verbs like cercare, an indefinite noun can sometimes be followed by the subjunctive:

• Cerco un nome che non conosca.

That suggests a more hypothetical, unspecified kind of search.

In your sentence, though, che non conosco sounds very natural and direct.

Because conoscere and sapere are not used in exactly the same way.

Use conoscere for being familiar with:

• a person
• a place
• a book
• a name

Use sapere for knowing a fact or knowing how to do something:

• So che è tardi. = I know that it’s late.
• So nuotare. = I know how to swim.

So here:

• un nome che non conosco

is correct, because it means a name I am not familiar with.

Che is a relative pronoun here. It means that / which and refers back to un nome.

So:

• un nome che non conosco
• a name that I don’t know

It connects the noun nome to the clause non conosco.

Italian uses che very often in this way. You would not use cui here, because che works well as the direct object of conosco:

• conosco che is not the issue; rather, che stands for nome inside the relative clause.

A simple way to think of it:

• Conosco il nome.
• Il nome che conosco...

So in your sentence, che = that.

Yes, you may hear:

• come se stessi cercando

This uses stare + gerundio in the subjunctive and can emphasize the ongoing nature of the action a bit more:

• come se cercassi = neutral, very common
• come se stessi cercando = also possible, a little more explicitly as if I were in the middle of looking

But come se cercassi is completely natural and idiomatic, and in many cases it is the most straightforward choice.