Random Name Generator

This is a very simple program that generates random names based on letter frequency associatations. It works by taking a list of names, building a frequency table and then output a load of names based on these frequencies.

What's it useful for?

When David Braben originally wrote Elite (on the BBC Micro) he only had around 22K of memory to work with. However, he managed to squeeze in 9 galaxy's worth of names and planetary systems using a very clever randomly seeded routine. Part of this routine was to generate pseudo random names for the planets. He may have used a routine similar to this one (although, with reduced data).

If you are writing an RPG or any other game that may require bizzare and totally unique names, then this program will be very very useful to you. Below is an example of the names that this program can generate,

Helemer	Yalistoma	Ynelinc	Veeni	Wion
Wisi	Inamu	Friam	Brie	Zobe
Faroudai	Istor	Dwifr	Flon	Arenuruce
Ullanon	Lviemi	Kerman Xoylerind	Aldarr	Rdan
Zabe	Trolelp	Lmonnidr	Ncerethe Rustolo	Sackencod

As you can see, at least 50% of these names are easily pronounable in English. The program has also been known to produce real names and words, such as Lisa and Jade (note that Lisa and Jade are NOT in the name list provided).

Downloads

Filename	Version	Release	Platform	Filesize	Upload Date
randomNameGen-1.0-1.tar.gz	1.0	1	Source Tarball	4.00 KB	8th September 2006

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Comments for Random Name Generator (5)

Jean-Paul
January 22nd, 2009 at 09:49

Very nice program, can be tons of fun to play with and it's also useful, good work!

King
February 23rd, 2010 at 15:59

how do you use this o.o ?

Steve
February 23rd, 2010 at 16:04

It's program code, so you'll want to download and compile it, to make use of it. It's been designed to be integrated into other pieces of software, to generate random names.

Term Papers
July 15th, 2010 at 08:35

This was pretty good but do you have something that generates mailing addresses for the UK? Thanks!

Steve
July 16th, 2010 at 15:28

No, sorry (and why would anyone ever want such a thing???)

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