How can I get a reference to a sprite with a string value at runtime?

I've got a bunch of sprites in a spritesheet and I'm wondering if there's a way to get references to them at runtime by calling them by their name, like with a string, rather than having to make a reference manually in the inspector for all of them.

So something like:

Code (CSharp):

1. WeaponIcon.sprite = GetSpriteByName("SwordIcon1");

Is something like that possible? Hope that makes sense. Thanks.

 

Good idea. Thanks for the suggestion. However I'm wondering if that will result in more draw calls or some other less efficient process because of loading the sprite sheet for every item...