
Fake name generator for social media - jstalin
https://fakena.me
======
teddyh
(See also fakenamegenerator.com, discussed here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7095010](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7095010))

Personally, I use this:

    
    
      # 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 code, it will check out.

    
    
      $ rig
      Adolph Cline
      739 Anton Dr
      Mentor, OH  44060
      (216) xxx-xxxx
      $

~~~
billpg
You don't see many people called Adolph these days. I wonder why that is.

~~~
nnnnni
Yeah, the only one that I know is my friend Adolph Mussolini Stalin. He always
gets weird looks for some reason.

~~~
dredmorbius
Then there's my little dog Tojo. I keep telling him "we're not in Canton
anymore".

------
mtrn
This is even more comprehensive:
[http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/](http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/) \- you
get every detail you need, name, occupation, age, even credit card numbers and
SSN.

~~~
lucb1e
Except it doesn't do addresses, especially postal codes, which is what I'd use
it for. Making up names is not the problem, finding a matching postal code
with street name and a house number (this database is published and many sites
check it) is the issue.

~~~
piyush_soni
You don't see addresses on this website? Look just below the randomly
generated name.

~~~
lucb1e
Not in Dutch

------
elwell
I think a more valuable tool would be one that exports like 5000 identities to
a csv file (or a data structure in whatever language you want json, clojure
vector of maps, _SQL_ , etc). Then I could import a bunnch of identites into
my database and load test my system. I would need to specify column/key names
for each field.

~~~
Stormcaller
This can be easily done with "Faker", see:
[https://github.com/fzaninotto/Faker](https://github.com/fzaninotto/Faker) It
can create fake names, locations, account info, credit cards and so on...

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wehadfun
This is great. Would be nice if it came with a facebook, twitter, and gmail
account.

~~~
3rd3
And with car keys and an ID card.

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joelthelion
Very useful for sites like Quora who do not understand that some users don't
want to use their real life identity.

~~~
dspillett
That does erk me slightly. I appreciate the _need_ for anonymity in some
circumstances, and the _desire_ for it in others whether it be needed or not,
and I'm not keen on being tracked any more than the next person, but...

The "why should I have to give you X before you'll give me Y? - here have junk
instead" thing is wrong IMO. You _don 't_ have to give them X, you have the
option of going elsewhere or simply living without Y. Why should _they_ give
you Y without you providing X if they don't want to? Their house, their rules.

Voting with your feet is more likely to have some effect than providing fake
information will.

~~~
Ankaios
_The "why should I have to give you X before you'll give me Y? - here have
junk instead" thing is wrong IMO._

That's an interesting opinion. However, this isn't just "their house." They
chose to provide their site as part of the Web, and some of us believe that
means they'll have to cope with the broader community's norms and traditions,
too, including anonymity and pseudonymity.

------
DonHopkins
Karma Justice, who lives on 3024 Boulevard Way, seems TOTALLY legit.

[https://fakena.me/j/51e765ff78903ffbedbdceef372865290806b49d...](https://fakena.me/j/51e765ff78903ffbedbdceef372865290806b49d736815f268f06f0a1bb1ec45d99cf1f6c7616abfb4431a976cd387fb374409dcf6cba2792bf24734436dc45c.html)

~~~
jstalin
Hah, my initial first name database is the top 1000 baby names... so this is a
humorous coincidence.

~~~
DonHopkins
I hereby donate this identity to the public domain! Anybody can use Karma
Justice for any purpose they want, good or evil! But beware -- whatever you do
will come back to you.

------
lucb1e
I used rot13 for my last name, trying normal words as input until you get a
normal word as output. Sparks fun conversations when people find it a strange
last name and you get to explain that there is a secret meaning.

------
jstalin
Thanks for the feedback. I'll look at adding json, additional data
(suggestions welcome), and changing the temporary email domain regularly so
it's harder to block.

------
daimyoyo
Did they register a large block of phone numbers? I reverse searched the
number they gave me, and it was valid, but I called it and the number is "not
reachable".

~~~
TezzellEnt
Exactly this. What of the companies that require "SMS" verification? Where
does the text go to?

~~~
jstalin
It's the correct area code for the city and zip code, but otherwise a
completely randomly generated phone number. rand(201,799)-rand(1000-9999).

------
thyrsus
The e-mail addresses are at guerrilamail.com, provider of temporary addresses
- and blocked from my current location. Are those addresses checked for
availablility?

~~~
jstalin
The email address is based off the randomly generated name, with extra
characters added. The possibility of a conflict is extremely low.

------
goldmouth
This is extremely useful for my day to day work, thank you!

------
elwell
No one's going to donate if you just put you bitcoin wallet address. Donations
need to take less than 20s and be mindless. Preferrably, just a matter of a
few clicks. You might be better off with paypal; unless you're just aiming for
trendy and unobtrusive, then bitcoin is fine, but I wouldn't have any
expectations.

------
userbinator
I like how Fakena (the way I first read the domain) sounds like a perfectly
cromulent "ethnic" female given name.

------
ljk
> _you should change your username and email address frequently so sites don
> 't build a history of your activities_

isn't it pretty easy for the sites to collect history of your activities
anyways since those emails/username are tied to the same account on said
sites?

------
jstalin
Working with the guy who runs guerrillamail.com, I just added a custom domain
for those who are blocked from accessing guerrillamail for the temporary email
address. I plan to rotate the email custom domain monthly.

------
tomw1808
Great, bookmarked! And here's one with pictures:
[http://www.designskilz.com/users/](http://www.designskilz.com/users/)

------
vishalzone2002
I am curious, how does it makes sure that a name is fake? Even if its random,
isn't there a high chance to generate a real name?

~~~
jstalin
Yes, but there is a 0% chance that the name it generates is someone who lives
at that address with that phone number.

~~~
vbcr
Your math does not checkout.

~~~
jstalin
Ok, something like a 1 in 9,313,641,036,000,000,000,000 chance.

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nitin_flanker
Oh wow this is fantastic. They are providing everything. :)

------
dasmithii
A JSON-formatted return value would be convenient

~~~
Killswitch
Ask and you shall receive[0]. Wrote this using Faker[1] after viewing the
responses of this thread.

[0]:
[http://www.certifiedwebninja.com/fake.json](http://www.certifiedwebninja.com/fake.json)

[1]:
[https://github.com/fzaninotto/Faker](https://github.com/fzaninotto/Faker)

------
alexzeig456
This is exactly what we are trying to prevent. We believe there should be some
semblance of identity in the internet. For the exact opposite of this post,
check out bluecheck.me

~~~
JeremyMorgan
Here's what I've learned in 10+ years of web marketing, and it's simple.

If someone is giving you fake info, it's because they don't want to be
contacted. It's a cold lead you'll just spend money chasing that most likely
will never convert.

~~~
georgemcbay
Sometimes worse than a cold lead, but a toxic lead. When companies step over
boundaries I've spent at least some effort to erect, not only will I not
convert (if only out of spite, even if I think their product might otherwise
have some value to me), I'll spend days, maybe weeks ranting about how shitty
they are to everyone who will listen.

