Random name generator

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Bob the Hamster
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Random name generator

Post by Bob the Hamster »

Random name generators are a dime a dozen on the internet, but I thought I would share mine anyway, because I had a lot of fun writing it.

http://hamsterrepublic.com/randomnames/

Here is the approach it takes.

It starts with all the capitalized words from a spellchecker dictionary.

It then randomly picks one.

Then it makes a bunch of attempts to pick another random word that can be spliced together with the first one using two letters in common.

For example: Humphry and Pompadour could be spliced together on "mp" yielding Humpadour.

The results are pretty silly, but they are almost always pronouncable-- and I think those two things are a good measure of the usefuness of a name generator, especially for fantasy contexts.

It is also implemented completely in javascript, so you can click the "regenerate" button way more efficiently than reloading the page in your browser.

The source code is here https://github.com/bob-the-hamster/random-name-fun
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Foxley
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Post by Foxley »

Just glancing at the first set of generated names, I get the feeling I'm going to love this thing.
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kylekrack
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Post by kylekrack »

One of the ones I got was "Math" and I find that hilarious.
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SwordPlay
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Post by SwordPlay »

Its really cool! and funny! It could be cross-posted in the resources thread perhaps? Seems really useful.
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BMR
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Post by BMR »

Heh, that's pretty neat :)
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Post by kylekrack »

"Acoward" is another one of my favorites. It'd be definitive foreshadowing to name a character "a coward."

Hilariousness aside, this is a spectacular tool. It gives so many names each run, and they're all unique sounding. At the very least, it's like a machine that does the brainstorming for you and gives you ideas. Love it.
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MorpheusKitami
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Post by MorpheusKitami »

This is going to be really useful. Especially for fantasy games. Oooh, especially with an expanded dictionary. Muahahaha.

I think I found a bug though, because in the first batch I got, Poincar�dinger. Seems to be a problem with the é character? I'm not sure if it's on my end or not.
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Bob the Hamster
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

Nah, that bug is on my end. My dictionary text file has the wrong text encoding, so all the accented characters are mangled. I'll get around to fixing it eventually

(I should totally make a way to override the dictionary with your own text file)
Last edited by Bob the Hamster on Tue Jul 25, 2017 8:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Gizmog
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Post by Gizmog »

MorpheusKitami wrote:This is going to be really useful. Especially for fantasy games. Oooh, especially with an expanded dictionary. Muahahaha.

I think I found a bug though, because in the first batch I got, Poincar�dinger. Seems to be a problem with the é character? I'm not sure if it's on my end or not.
Bob The Hamster wrote:Nah, that bug is on my end. My dictionary text file has the wrong text encoding, so all the accented characters are mangled. I'll get around to fixing it eventually

(I should totally make a way to override the dictionary with your own text file)
You're both wrong! Poincar Diamond Dinger is a great name, and is definitely not a bug. #FreeDiamondDinger
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Bob the Hamster
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Post by Bob the Hamster »

Gizmog wrote:You're both wrong! Poincar Diamond Dinger is a great name, and is definitely not a bug. #FreeDiamondDinger
There was seriously already an NPC named "Poncar" in the Queen Arkwyn's Crown D&D campaign. His last name is now Diamond-Dinger
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Gizmog
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Post by Gizmog »

Bob the Hamster wrote:
Gizmog wrote:You're both wrong! Poincar Diamond Dinger is a great name, and is definitely not a bug. #FreeDiamondDinger
There was seriously already an NPC named "Poncar" in the Queen Arkwyn's Crown D&D campaign. His last name is now Diamond-Dinger
Hehehehe, awesome. I hope he's best friends with Ovident Dicksoto and Conia Pocahontas.
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