Custom Name Generator
About a week ago, I came across a bit of block for my main story in progress, and decided to go back to another story that's set in the same world. The story is largely character-driven, and I've been fiddling around with it for years. During this time, there have been several failed attempts to merge it into larger stories, with the result that some characters are in it that weren't in the beginning, and others have disappeared from it altogether. The main issue involved in all this switcharound, surprisingly, isn't the plot, but the names of characters.
Of the four characters who survived the original draft, two have everyday names and the third's full name means something, but he generally gets called by a shortened version which doesn't sound like a normal name at all. The fourth had a fantasy name which I gave to another character while her story was on hiatus, and now it suits the other character more. Of the characters who then got added, one has an everyday name and the other has a name that isn't everyday but isn't full-blown fantasy either. The final two characters to be added both have fantasy names, but one is more commonly known by the nickname 'Left'. In short, my naming ended up all over the place, and a few days ago I decided I wanted to rename two of the characters with ordinary names and give a name to the character who had lost hers.
I don't know about you guys, but I find it really difficult to write a character without naming them. I usually end up giving them placeholder names, but then they grow into the name while I'm not looking and end up with relatively odd names compared to the rest of the cast.
Name generators don't tend to work for me - I'll occasionally get a name that fits, but more often than not it completely misses the mark. Something about it doesn't 'feel' right. So I wondered if it were possible to create a custom name generator that learns from a data pool of names that it's given and creates names that fit.
And then I smiled sweetly at a guy I know. Ah, the joys of having tech-geek friends.
Basically, between us we've created a custom name generator. Names of characters listed in a .txt file are given to the program, and it generates names with a similar feel. You can set minimum and maximum lengths for names, and tell it how many names you want generated at a time (there is absolutely no limit on this, but going for a gazillion might well crash your computer - I know it can generate 100 at a time with ease, but I've yet to fully test it).
The program is very much still in the testing stage, and we've had teething problems, but about 95% of the names it produces (at least the ones of regular lengths, say between 3 and 10 letters long) are pronuncable, and it's generated quite a few that I like. This program doesn't simply spew out the names it's taught (although this can happen sometimes, depending on the size of the data pool), and it's not bound to a certain kind of name like lots of the internet generators I know are. It adapts to the data it's given, and alters what it gives in return.
As I mentioned, it's in the testing stage. The main issue at the moment is that every so often, it duplicates letters beyond doubles (so sometimes names will have triple or, very rarely, quadruple letters). Also, bear in mind that it can only work from the information it's given. If none of the names in the data pool start with an F, none of the names produced will. It's the same with ending letters, but it can mix around middle letters as it likes (that said, if the letter Z isn't present in the data pool at all, it won't suddenly show up in the middle of a word).
Anyway, I just thought I'd post about this in case anyone was interested in a tool like this?
(Also, first ever post. Hello.)
Of the four characters who survived the original draft, two have everyday names and the third's full name means something, but he generally gets called by a shortened version which doesn't sound like a normal name at all. The fourth had a fantasy name which I gave to another character while her story was on hiatus, and now it suits the other character more. Of the characters who then got added, one has an everyday name and the other has a name that isn't everyday but isn't full-blown fantasy either. The final two characters to be added both have fantasy names, but one is more commonly known by the nickname 'Left'. In short, my naming ended up all over the place, and a few days ago I decided I wanted to rename two of the characters with ordinary names and give a name to the character who had lost hers.
I don't know about you guys, but I find it really difficult to write a character without naming them. I usually end up giving them placeholder names, but then they grow into the name while I'm not looking and end up with relatively odd names compared to the rest of the cast.
Name generators don't tend to work for me - I'll occasionally get a name that fits, but more often than not it completely misses the mark. Something about it doesn't 'feel' right. So I wondered if it were possible to create a custom name generator that learns from a data pool of names that it's given and creates names that fit.
And then I smiled sweetly at a guy I know. Ah, the joys of having tech-geek friends.
Basically, between us we've created a custom name generator. Names of characters listed in a .txt file are given to the program, and it generates names with a similar feel. You can set minimum and maximum lengths for names, and tell it how many names you want generated at a time (there is absolutely no limit on this, but going for a gazillion might well crash your computer - I know it can generate 100 at a time with ease, but I've yet to fully test it).
The program is very much still in the testing stage, and we've had teething problems, but about 95% of the names it produces (at least the ones of regular lengths, say between 3 and 10 letters long) are pronuncable, and it's generated quite a few that I like. This program doesn't simply spew out the names it's taught (although this can happen sometimes, depending on the size of the data pool), and it's not bound to a certain kind of name like lots of the internet generators I know are. It adapts to the data it's given, and alters what it gives in return.
As I mentioned, it's in the testing stage. The main issue at the moment is that every so often, it duplicates letters beyond doubles (so sometimes names will have triple or, very rarely, quadruple letters). Also, bear in mind that it can only work from the information it's given. If none of the names in the data pool start with an F, none of the names produced will. It's the same with ending letters, but it can mix around middle letters as it likes (that said, if the letter Z isn't present in the data pool at all, it won't suddenly show up in the middle of a word).
Anyway, I just thought I'd post about this in case anyone was interested in a tool like this?
(Also, first ever post. Hello.)