Random name generator in Python

funkybob is a Python library for generating Docker-style random names, like these:

ecstatic_ritchie, kind_beaver, sharp_heisenberg, angry_nightingale, ...

funkybob supports generating names preceeded by an arbirary number of adjectives, in order to increase the number of unique names that can be generated:

Random names with no adjectives:
    swirles, khorana, blackwell, ...

Random names preceeded by an adjective:
    ecstatic_ritchie, kind_beaver, sharp_heisenberg, ...

Random names preceeded by two adjectives:
    admiring_dazzling_noether, thirsty_wonderful_agnesi, silly_wizardly_feynman, ...

Random names preceeded by three adjectives:
    cranky_goofy_hopeful_wright, competent_jolly_suspicious_kare, cocky_competent_gifted_yalow, ...

When using more than one adjective, funkybob ensures that two names with the same set of adjectives cannot occur, even if the order is different. So, for example, if the name inspiring_stupefied_payne was generated, then you can be sure that the name stupefied_inspiring_payne won't be generated later. This makes names much more easier to distinguish and less likely to generate confusion.

Installation

The package is hosted on PyPI, to install use:

$ pip install funkybob

Generators

funkybob ships three different name generators:

• SimpleNameGenerator: this provides a deterministic sequence of names -- no randomness involved. This will return duplicate names once all combinations have been yielded. Useful if all you care about is performance.

• RandomNameGenerator: returns randomly generated names. It may return duplicate names at any point.

• UniqueRandomNameGenerator: returns randomly generated names, but unlike RandomNameGenerator, no duplicates are returned. Unlike the other two generators, this one has a limited size and will stop yielding values once all unique names have been returned.

This table sumarizes the features of all three generators:

Usage

All three generators are iterables, which means that you can simply use iter() and next() on them in order to retrieve names:

>>> import funkybob
>>> generator = funkybob.RandomNameGenerator()
>>> it = iter(generator)
>>> next(it)
'practical_hoover'
>>> next(it)
'stupefied_ramanujan'
>>> next(it)
'zealous_aryabhata'

You can pass the members and separator parameters to change the number of adjectives or the formatting of names:

>>> # This will generate names with 3 members (2 adjectives + 1 last name),
>>> # separated by a colon
>>> generator = funkybob.RandomNameGenerator(members=3, separator=':')
>>> it = iter(generator)
>>> next(it)
'friendly:hopeful:neumann'
>>> next(it)
'admiring:trusting:montalcini'
>>> next(it)
'practical:suspicious:blackwell'

Generators have an unique_count attribute that you can use to check the number of unique names that can be generated:

>>> generator.unique_count
740094

UniqueRandomNameGenerator

In addition to all of the above, UniqueRandomNameGenerator privides a sequence-like interfance, which means, for example, that you can use indexing or the len() method (which is the same as accessing the unique_count attribute):

>>> generator = funkybob.UniqueRandomNameGenerator()
>>> generator[0]
'xenodochial_yalow'
>>> generator[1]
'kind_mccarthy'
>>> generator[2]
'happy_hawking'
>>> len(generator)
16089

You can increase the number of members in order to increase the size, at the expense of having longer names.

UniqueRandomNameGenerator also supports an additional parameter: seed. This can be used to initialize the pseudo-random generator. If you pass always the same value, the same sequence of names will be generated. This can be useful in tests when you need predictable names.