Random name generator using combining adjectives with animals.

random_name_generator.clj

(def adjectives [
  "adorable"
  "adventurous"
  "aggressive"
  "alert"
  "attractive"
  "average"
  "beautiful"
  "blue-eyed "
  "bloody"
  "blushing"
  "bright"
  "clean"
  "clear"
  "cloudy"
  "colorful"
  "crowded"
  "cute"
  "dark"
  "drab"
  "distinct"
  "dull"
  "elegant"
  "excited"
  "fancy"
  "filthy"
  "glamorous"
  "gleaming"
  "gorgeous"
  "graceful"
  "grotesque"
  "handsome"
  "homely"
  "light"
  "long"
  "magnificent"
  "misty"
  "motionless"
  "muddy"
  "old-fashioned"
  "plain"
  "poised"
  "precious"
  "quaint"
  "shiny"
  "smoggy"
  "sparkling"
  "spotless"
  "stormy"
  "strange"
  "ugly"
  "ugliest"
  "unsightly"
  "unusual"
  "wide-eyed "
  "alive"
  "annoying"
  "bad"
  "better"
  "beautiful"
  "brainy"
  "breakable"
  "busy"
  "careful"
  "cautious"
  "clever"
  "clumsy"
  "concerned"
  "crazy"
  "curious"
  "dead"
  "different"
  "difficult"
  "doubtful"
  "easy"
  "expensive"
  "famous"
  "fragile"
  "frail"
  "gifted"
  "helpful"
  "helpless"
  "horrible"
  "important"
  "impossible"
  "inexpensive"
  "innocent"
  "inquisitive"
  "modern"
  "mushy"
  "odd"
  "open"
  "outstanding"
  "poor"
  "powerful"
  "prickly"
  "puzzled"
  "real"
  "rich"
  "shy"
  "sleepy"
  "stupid"
  "super"
  "talented"
  "tame"
  "tender"
  "tough"
  "uninterested"
  "vast"
  "wandering"
  "wild"
  "wrong"
  "agreeable"
  "amused"
  "brave"
  "calm"
  "charming"
  "cheerful"
  "comfortable"
  "cooperative"
  "courageous"
  "delightful"
  "determined"
  "eager"
  "elated"
  "enchanting"
  "encouraging"
  "energetic"
  "enthusiastic"
  "excited"
  "exuberant"
  "fair"
  "faithful"
  "fantastic"
  "fine"
  "friendly"
  "funny"
  "gentle"
  "glorious"
  "good"
  "happy"
  "healthy"
  "helpful"
  "hilarious"
  "jolly"
  "joyous"
  "kind"
  "lively"
  "lovely"
  "lucky"
  "nice"
  "obedient"
  "perfect"
  "pleasant"
  "proud"
  "relieved"
  "silly"
  "smiling"
  "splendid"
  "successful"
  "thankful"
  "thoughtful"
  "victorious"
  "vivacious"
  "witty"
  "wonderful"
  "zealous"
  "zany"])

(def animals [
"aardvark"
"albatross"
"alligator"
"alpaca"
"ant"
"anteater"
"antelope"
"ape"
"armadillo"
"herd"
"baboon"
"badger"
"barracuda"
"bat"
"bear"
"beaver"
"bee"
"bison"
"boar"
"galago"
"butterfly"
"camel"
"caribou"
"cat"
"caterpillar"
"cattle"
"chamois"
"cheetah"
"chicken"
"chimpanzee"
"chinchilla"
"chough"
"clam"
"cobra"
"cockroach"
"cod"
"cormorant"
"coyote"
"crab"
"herd"
"crocodile"
"crow"
"curlew"
"deer"
"dinosaur"
"dog"
"dolphin"
"donkey"
"dotterel"
"dove"
"dragonfly"
"duck"
"dugong"
"dunlin"
"eagle"
"echidna"
"eel"
"elephant"
"elk"
"emu"
"falcon"
"ferret"
"finch"
"fish"
"flamingo"
"fly"
"fox"
"frog"
"gaur"
"gazelle"
"gerbil"
"giraffe"
"gnat"
"goat"
"goose"
"goldfish"
"gorilla"
"goshawk"
"grasshopper"
"grouse"
"guanaco"
"poultry"
"herd"
"gull"
"hamster"
"hare"
"hawk"
"hedgehog"
"heron"
"herring"
"hippopotamus"
"hornet"
"horse"
"human"
"hummingbird"
"hyena"
"jackal"
"jaguar"
"jay"
"jellyfish"
"kangaroo"
"koala"
"kouprey"
"kudu"
"lapwing"
"lark"
"lemur"
"leopard"
"lion"
"llama"
"lobster"
"locust"
"loris"
"louse"
"lyrebird"
"magpie"
"mallard"
"manatee"
"marten"
"meerkat"
"mink"
"monkey"
"moose"
"mouse"
"mosquito"
"mule"
"narwhal"
"newt"
"nightingale"
"octopus"
"okapi"
"opossum"
"oryx"
"ostrich"
"otter"
"owl"
"ox"
"oyster"
"parrot"
"partridge"
"peafowl"
"pelican"
"penguin"
"pheasant"
"pig"
"pigeon"
"pony"
"porcupine"
"porpoise"
"quail"
"quelea"
"rabbit"
"raccoon"
"rat"
"raven"
"herd"
"reindeer"
"rhinoceros"
"ruff"
"salamander"
"salmon"
"sandpiper"
"sardine"
"scorpion"
"herd"
"seahorse"
"shark"
"sheep"
"shrew"
"shrimp"
"skunk"
"snail"
"snake"
"spider"
"squid"
"squirrel"
"starling"
"stingray"
"stinkbug"
"stork"
"swallow"
"swan"
"tapir"
"tarsier"
"termite"
"tiger"
"toad"
"trout"
"poultry"
"turtle"
"vulture"
"wallaby"
"walrus"
"wasp"
"carabeef"
"weasel"
"whale"
"wolf"
"wolverine"
"wombat"
"woodcock"
"woodpecker"
"worm"
"wren"
"yak"
"zebra"
])

(defn random-names [& {:keys [seperator]
                       :or {seperator " "}}]
  (shuffle
    (for [adjective adjectives
          animal animals]
      (str adjective seperator animal))))


; (take 5 (random-names))

Realizing all for combinations with shuffle is a really expensive way to ensure that the seq that you take from it has unique values.

(defn random-name []
  (clojure.string/join "-" (map rand-nth [adjectives animals])))

For fun, here are two naive approaches that came to mind:

random-names-1 lazily generates a seq of names but they aren't guaranteed to be unique.

(defn random-names-1 []
  (repeatedly random-name))

(take 3 (random-names-1))  ;=> ("breakable-squirrel" "poor-chamois" "amused-ant")

random-names-2 doesn't behave like a seq and it's kinda dumb, but it at least guarantees unique results.

(defn random-names-2 [n]
  (loop [names #{}]
    (if (= n (count names))
      names
      (recur (conj names (random-name))))))

(random-names-2 3)  ;=> #{"clear-wolverine" "muddy-antelope" "beautiful-locust"}

This all is of course just for fun, but random-names-3 (the next evolution) would be smarter and written with lazy-seq and drain from the adjectives pool & animals pool as it's consumed.

My contribution produces a lazy sequence of unique names. The drawback is the O(n) selection of a random element from a set.

Note that the adjectives and animals are sets.

(def adjectives #{
  "adorable"
  "adventurous"
  "aggressive"
  "alert"
  "attractive"})

(def animals #{
  "aardvark"
  "albatross"
  "alligator"
  "alpaca"
  "ant"})

(defn random-element-from-set [s]
  (rand-nth (seq s)))

(defn random-names [adjectives animals]
  (cond
    (or (empty? adjectives) (empty? animals))
      nil
    :else
      (lazy-seq
        (let [adj (random-element-from-set adjectives)
              ani (random-element-from-set animals)]
          (cons (str adj "-" ani)
                (random-names (disj adjectives adj)
                              (disj animals ani)))))))

(random-names adjectives animals)
;= ("attractive-ant" "adorable-aardvark" "adventurous-albatross" "aggressive-alpaca" "alert-alligator")

@gsinclair:

Wouldn't it be faster to use vectors then for the Olog32N lookup on rand and disj?

Thanks for the feedback!

I didn't know that shuffle realizes the lazy seq it is given. Good to know.