UniqueNamesGenerator

Unique Names Generator is a Ruby package for generating random and unique names. Generation utilizes PRNG (pseudo random number generation) for either fully random or seeded name generation. It comes with a list of various dictionaries out of the box, but you can also provide custom ones. Inspired by the great "Unique Names Generator" available on NPM by Andrea Sonny. Ported from the Elixir version built by myself.

The package can be installed from RubyGems by adding unique_names_generator to your list of gemfile dependencies:

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'unique_names_generator', '~> 0.2.0'

And then execute:

$ bundle

Or install it yourself as:

$ gem install unique_names_generator

In a nutshell, you can begin generating random names with UniqueNamesGenerator by simply creating a Generator instance and specifying an array of one or more dictionaries. Available dictionary types are [:adjectives, :animals, :colors, :languages, :names, :numbers, :star_wars].

generator = UniqueNamesGenerator::Generator.new([:adjectives, :animals])
generator.generate

# => Generates ex: "dramatic_limpet"

generator = UniqueNamesGenerator::Generator.new([:adjectives, :colors, :animals])
generator.generate

# => Generates ex: "tremendous_brown_cat"

generator = UniqueNamesGenerator::Generator.new([:adjectives, :names, :numbers])
generator.generate

# => Generates ex: "doubtful_wanda_979"

To use custom dictionaries, simply include your array of strings as part of the dictionaries array:

drinks = ['Sprite', 'Coca-Cola', 'Juice', 'Tea']

generator = UniqueNamesGenerator::Generator.new([:colors, drinks])
generator.generate

# => Generates ex: "cyan_sprite"

UniqueNamesGenerator can be used with either the default provided config (separator: '_', style: :lowercase, creativity: 0) or by specifying any of your own configuration options for seeding, seperator, style and creativity.

• Dictionaries: [Array<Symbol, Array>] List of dictionaries to use for name generation. Can be symbols referring to built-in dictionaries or custom arrays of strings.
• Separator: [String] Character(s) used to join words in the generated name. Default: '_'. nil can be used for no space.
  • ex: '_', '-', ' ' or nil for no space.
• Style: [Symbol] Capitalization style for generated names.
  • Options: :lowercase, :uppercase, :capital. Default: :lowercase
• Creativity: [Integer] Level of creativity in name generation, affecting word selection. Must be between 0 and 10. A Float value can also be used. Default: 0

generator = UniqueNamesGenerator::Generator.new([:colors, :animals], style: :capital, separator: ' ')
generator.generate

# => Generates ex: "Lavender Marlin"

generator = UniqueNamesGenerator::Generator.new([:colors, :adjectives, :animals], creativity: 8, style: :capital, separator: ' ')
generator.generate

# => Generates ex: "Yellow Local Hippopotamus"

Using the creativity option changes how UniqueNamesGenerator selects terms from the dictionaries in use, essentially acting as a multiplier. For dictionaries with a similar term length, while using a seed, the selection may at times appear to be alphabetical or closely related (ex: "Amber Anakin Skywalker"). Utilizing the creative option with a value between 1 and 10 will use a sequential multiplier for subsequent dictionaries providing a seemingly more "random" or "creative" result whilst still allowing for seeded generation.

generator = UniqueNamesGenerator::Generator.new([:colors, :adjectives, :animals], creativity: 8)
generator.generate(seed: 'f6da7a28-5ae6-4d6b-b3b8-a197b99ed4eb')

# => Seed "f6da7a28-5ae6-4d6b-b3b8-a197b99ed4eb" with creativity of 8 always generates: "plum_flying_cobra"

A seed can be used to deterministically generate a name. As long as the provided seed and creativity values are the same between runs, then the generated name will also always be the same. Simply provide a string or integer as an argument to the generate method, ie; seed: 'hello'.

(Usecase example: generate a username for an authenticated user based on UUID. Ex: 13a5d03e-61d0-4b5b-ae3b-57953c268c5f will always generate the name "coral_greedo_320" when used together with the colors/star_wars/numbers dictionaries).

generator = UniqueNamesGenerator::Generator.new([:colors, :star_wars, :numbers])
generator.generate(seed: '13a5d03e-61d0-4b5b-ae3b-57953c268c5f')

# => Seed "13a5d03e-61d0-4b5b-ae3b-57953c268c5f" always generates: "coral_greedo_320"

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.