Welcome to FT!

Of course you can redeem two tickets with two names of passengers on UA if inventory is available. So you don't really need to transfer you UA miles to your wife's account to get her award ticket.

As FT is a good place for learning frequent flyer programs with many FTers generous enough to give prompt response, you might want to take some time to read the terms and conditions of the frequent flyer programs and upgrade systems that you are interested in. You will play with the rules better when you know it better.