A generator for random person names

During the creation of a project, I often need to generate test data to test the applications. Quite frequently this happens when there is (yet) no database backend available so I need to generate the test data directly inside the program.

Usually, this also involves test data of persons (or users, customers, suppliers etc.). Over time I really got sick of my imaginative creations like “AAA 1”, “ZRIQW 44” and of course the well known “sdsfghsdfj, sdf934md930”.

Thats why I have generated the RandomPersonNameGenerator class that uses the top 30 names from the 1990 census of the U.S. Census Bureau to generate random person names.

The usage is very simple:

RandomPersonNameGenerator rpGen = new RandomPersonNameGenerator();
List<RandomPersonName> list = rpGen.Generate(100);

foreach (RandomPersonName rpn in list)
{
    Console.WriteLine(rpn);
}

The result will look like this:

You can also use the static method and directly access one of the properties of the resulting RandomPersonName objects.

List<RandomPersonName> list = RandomPersonNameGenerator.StaticGenerate(100);

foreach (RandomPersonName rpn in list)
{
    Console.WriteLine(rpn.LastCommaFirst);
}

 

The class is released under the new BSD license. Enjoy!

 

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

#region License

//For an explanation see http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.php

/*
Copyright (c) 2010, TeX HeX / Xteq Systems
http://www.texhex.info/ http://www.xteq.com/
All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

  * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
    list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
  * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
    this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
    and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
  * Neither the name of the Xteq Systems nor the names of its contributors may
    be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without
    specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY,
OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
*/
#endregion

namespace RandomGenerator
{
    /// <summary>
    /// This class is used to store a name and give easy access to the differnt parts of it.
    /// </summary>
    public class RandomPersonName
    {
        public string First { get; set; } //          Michael
        public string Last { get; set; } //           Hex
        public string Full { get; set; } //           Michael Hex
        public string LastCommaFirst { get; set; }//  Hex, Michael

        public override string ToString()
        {
            return Full;
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Can be used to easily generate person name like "Michael Taylor", "Lisa Smith" etc.
    /// All names are returned as a RandomPersonName object.
    /// </summary>
    public class RandomPersonNameGenerator
    {
        #region Name arrays
        //All these names (with slight modifications) retrieved from here:
        //
        //http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/data/1990surnames/
        //
        static readonly string[] _firstNameMaleSet =new string[] {
         "James", "John", "Robert", "Michael", "William", "David", "Richard", "Charles", "Joseph",
         "Thomas", "Christopher", "Daniel", "Paul", "Mark", "Donald", "George", "Kenneth",
         "Steven",  "Dirk", "Brian", "Ronald", "Anthony", "Kevin", "Jason", "Matthew", "Gary",
         "Timothy", "Jose", "Larry", "Jeffrey"
        };
        static readonly int _firstNameMaleSetCount = _firstNameMaleSet.GetUpperBound(0)+1;

        static readonly string[] _firstNameFemaleSet = new string[] {
            "Mary", "Patricia", "Linda", "Barbara", "Elizabeth", "Jennifer", "Maria", "Susan",
            "Margaret", "Melanie", "Lisa", "Nancy", "Karen", "Betty", "Helen", "Sandra", "Donna",
            "Carol", "Ruth", "Sharon", "Michelle", "Laura", "Sarah", "Kimberly", "Deborah", "Jessica",
            "Shirley", "Cynthia", "Angela", "Melissa"
        };
        static readonly int _firstNameFemaleSetCount = _firstNameFemaleSet.GetUpperBound(0)+1;

        static readonly string[] _lastNameSet = new string[] {
            "Smith", "Johnson", "Williams", "Jones", "Brown", "Davis", "Miller", "Wilson", "Moore",
            "Taylor", "Anderson", "Parker", "Jackson", "Norris", "Harris", "Hex", "Thompson",
            "Garcia", "Martinez", "Robinson", "Clark", "Rodriguez", "Lewis", "Lee", "Walker", "Hall",
            "Allen", "Young", "Hernandez", "King"
        };
        #endregion
        static readonly int _lastNameSetCount = _lastNameSet.GetUpperBound(0)+1;

        RandomPersonName GenerateOne(Random rndm)
        {
            int iRandomValueMale = rndm.Next(0, _firstNameMaleSetCount);
            int iRandomValueFemale = rndm.Next(0, _firstNameFemaleSetCount);
            int iRandomValueLastName = rndm.Next(0, _lastNameSetCount);
            RandomPersonName rpn = new RandomPersonName();

            rpn.First = rndm.Next(0, 2) == 0 ? _firstNameMaleSet[iRandomValueMale] : _firstNameFemaleSet[iRandomValueFemale];
            rpn.Last = _lastNameSet[iRandomValueLastName];
            rpn.Full = rpn.First + " " + rpn.Last;
            rpn.LastCommaFirst = rpn.Last + ", " + rpn.First;
            return rpn;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Returns a list of RandomPersonName objects.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="Count">Count of names that should be generated</param>
        /// <returns>List of RandomPersonName objects</returns>
        public List<RandomPersonName> Generate(int Count)
        {
            List<RandomPersonName> list = new List<RandomPersonName>();           

            Random rndm = new Random();

            for (int i = 0; i < Count; i++ )
            {
                list.Add(GenerateOne(rndm));
            }

            return list;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Returns a list of RandomPersonName objects (Static function)
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="Count">Count of names that should be generated</param>
        /// <returns>List of RandomPersonName objects</returns>
        public static List<RandomPersonName> StaticGenerate(int Count)
        {
            RandomPersonNameGenerator rpng = new RandomPersonNameGenerator();
            return rpng.Generate(Count);
        }

    }
}