Fake Name Generator

Post by frik » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 7:04 PM UTC

kriro wrote: post #63

I wonder what database they are using for the ZIP codes. I tried googling around a bit and only found a bunch of "pay X$ to get all US ZIP codes". I'm pretty sure I've found these before for an ERP project I worked for...maybe the CIA? database (I distinctly remember they had some pretty good stuff)

Post by wcfields » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 7:31 PM UTC

ArcticCelt wrote: post #101

jaimebuelta wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I was about to say the same. I tried a few "Hispanic" names and they looked absolutely weird. On the other hand the notion of a "reasonable" Hispanic name can be quite broad. Names in Spain can be very different from names in Argentina (where Italian surnames are quite common) or from US (when it's not uncommon to have an English name with a Spanish last name) Not sure about that, but other name set can have the…

Yeah I think that trying the bunch all Hispanic names under the same category is part of the problem. There is 400 million native speakers and they are spread over multiple continents, countries and cultures. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map-Hispanophone_World.png No surprise that names will widely vary from one place to the other.

Post by mahmoudhossam » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 7:42 PM UTC

teddyh wrote: post #16

# aptitude install rig RIG (Random Identity Generator) is a free replacement for a shareware program out there called 'fake'. It generates random, yet real-looking, personal data. It is useful if you need to feed a name to a Web site, BBS, or real person, and are too lazy to think of one yourself. Also, if the Web site/BBS/person you are giving the information to tries to cross-check the city, state, zip, or area cod…

Post by shitgoose » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 8:55 PM UTC

mynegation wrote: post #109

11001 wrote: post #96

At least with Russian names, the algorithm seems to apply a uniform probability distribution over all names in its database. It results in way too many extremely rare names. In other words, a batch of Russian names generated using this program would not look statistically realistic.

Yes, a lot of archaic names which are very rare. Also, Russia is multinational country, so Russian (as in ethnicity) and Russian (as in nationality/citizenship) names are different things. A lot of names (but not family names) are actually Tatar, Armenian etc. A combination of that name with typical Russian family name is not unheard of, but pretty rare to attract the attention which is the last thing you want if you…

Post by zeidrich » Tue, Jan 21, 2014, 9:34 PM UTC

nollidge wrote: post #92

antirez wrote: post #23

Italian names are not realistic. Try #1: "Dante Marcelo". Dante is a very strange name for an italian, I guess it is used in the US. Marcelo lacks an "l" (it is Marcello) so it sounds Spanish instead. Try #2: "Berto Trentino". Trentino is realistic but Berto sounds a lot like an abbreviation of "Alberto", so not a real name even if I guess there are people actually named "Berto". Try #3: "Pupetta Rizzo". Can't imagin…

My guess is that it's just randomly selecting from a list of names with equal probability, rather than weighting them based on how common they are. So all of these long-tail names are coming up way more often than you'd find in a phone book.