Alien Names in PHP   by Ralph Roberts

Shedoef Coexef Qedip Vulo'z Xo'tax Yotag Mo'lut Pumiw Qaezoec Lisoek Pojeq Co'spoesp Fashos Qo'fo'h Zospoed Canoex Xehaj Wahoex Gaezak Nujuq Qospug Dukuh Dimil Tano'x Hasag Thuxed Koesih Yoyath

Purpose and Construction of Alien Names

This web application produces alien names for science fiction writers, fantasy role playing gamers, or just for fun. They also make great insults! This is a preview of the work in progress. Feel free to bookmark this page and watch the application develop. ... Alien Names are constructed randomly by the code embedded in this page (using PHP) according to various linguistic rules employing consonants and vowels. Usually the resulting names are pronouncable. This technique is also useful in generating passwords.

History

I first published versions of this technique in RECREATIONAL COMPUTING in 1980 and in onCOMPUTING magazine later that same year. The program was also mentioned in the February 1980 Isaac Asimov's SF Magazine (look in the Classifieds). In 1985 I released a compiled BASIC program also called ALIEN NAMES as shareware. For the past 20 years or so, I've gotten the occasional check, some from places like South Africa, Germany, and other countries. In 1999, I wrote ALIEN NAMES yet again using the powerful REBOL scripting language. (rebol.com, "It's Perl without the complication.") I also wrote a book about REBOL, REBOL FOR DUMMIES.

Time marches on. As I discover new scripting languages, ALIEN NAMES often gets coded first just to see the language's flexibility. I learn by playing ;-). Some implementations require effort, others do not. REBOL was easy. Doing it in HTML/OS was incredibly fast and simple. The fastest way to develop web aps I've found to date! And this version was done in PHP.

Some Sample Tables of Alien Names

(C = consonant, V = vowel ...
  some C and V consist of more than one letter, such as 'th' or 'ae'...
  click browser refresh to generate new sets of names)

Pattern    C V C ... there are 4,232 possibilities.

Ceh	Nus	Dub	Spoh	Cak	Ho'y	Beth	Lo'q	Vek	Co'n	Bo's	Jof
Zuw	Zuf	Duf	Maec	Haeh	Fef	Vo'j	Bo'h	No'g	Cit	Gaf	Tho'v
Caj	God	Joesp	Qaeg	Tud	Thuc	Fo'c	Lak	Spim	Fel	Yim	Coz
Gaeq	Fil	Lo'z	Paem	Ram	Sip	Thiw	Loth	Wih	Fov	Spun	Poew
Yat	Vuq	Dar	Poeth	Spoej	Vo'x	Toec	Zaep	Qaeb	Spix	Wez	Maem
Sho'q	Poh	Mosh	Vaz	Noer	Qum	Spah	Baq	Xaev	Seq	Ban	Quz
Xo'h	Tuk	Qab	Cus	Puv	Vux	Hir	Sho'w	Mo'y	Yum	Vik	Sho'th
Hosp	Hur	Yaf	Qoew	Jo'd	Zaec	Seb	Nar	Yoez	Fuy	Caeh	Bax
So'x	Wop	Poem	Ruh	Sen	Tup	Hog	Cuy	Zus	Duv	Sher	Vo'th
Fos	Ro'f	Xuj	Hez	Woh	Shuw	Vok	Kosh	Bid	Rac	Qen	Daen

Pattern    V C V ... there are 1,472 possibilities.

Iro'	Uxe	Opoe	Ume	Idu	Oena	Uno	Oespo	Oeqoe	Eso	Usho'	Unoe
Aeye	Omu	Oexoe	Ene	Ispu	Oevu	Ama	Oeroe	Egu	Axa	Aesae	O'de
Uxa	Ispo	Oho	Asha	Oebo	Oexa	Oshi	Atha	Awoe	O'voe	Ejo	Eso
Ucoe	Adu	Awu	Upi	Oeshe	O'spe	O'bo'	Uthu	Ido'	Aejo	Eshu	O'shoe
Obi	Atae	Okoe	Oehoe	Aegoe	Aeyoe	Idae	Isha	Aefo'	Icae	O'qae	Iso
Ebae	O'ta	Upi	Iha	Ase	Aesha	O've	Aespe	Oethae	Uho	Amo	O'ka
O'shu	Ejae	Ejo	Odi	Obo'	Oesho'	O'so'	Oefe	Ahu	Odae	Ucoe	Aho'
O'pi	Isho	Ulo	Ubi	Uspo'	Ota	Uxi	Eho	Axo	Oezoe	Oewe	Aba
Oti	Aeho	Eyi	Aja	Eshae	Oca	Aecae	Iyoe	O'ro	Aro	Eba	Ushi
O'ca	Ifi	Iki	Awi	Aro	O'ze	Uyae	O'thi	Ici	Ori	Oepi	Aewo

Pattern    C V C V C V ... there are 6,229,504 possibilities.

Daxodo	Wecafo'	Koexasoe	No'waeli	Caxixu	Zo'rujoe	Do'sheda
Dowaeqi	Qo'jixu	Saesigo	Shajotu	Doerathoe	Cadaezu	Dorivi
Thifuti	Thulespo'	Yawofoe	Cetespu	Yathomoe	Wishaeshu	Gaeduda
Po'geki	Ziquro	Cirawo'	Tokuje	Focespe	Locuvi	Zuwodi
Shesogi	Maexoema	Shuqo'xo	Cathetoe	Pugeshi	Naepahoe	Moepekae
Jemaefe	Jejelo'	Zaemabi	Lodaeri	No'spo'fi	Xopegoe	Kozute
Poco'ra	Go'rive	Sadubi	Zaevispae	Spikaesho'	Copaja	Goshaewu
Shivo'shoe	Hoero'cu	Xazazoe	Co'dubo	Qeyothu	Baeshoeyae	Naqaspu
Qaetizu	Do'neno	So'tomu	Sponaefe	Tukesi	Wabipo'	Shuyiyi
Xojoyoe	Baedote	Viyo'no	Heqira	Foso'xo	Juyushoe	Go'nila

Pattern    V C V V C V C ... there are 49,836,032 possibilities.

Uboispaex	Ebiosit	Aspoeaemo'k	Eneaetaj	O'piopoez	Oroeoeso'f	Elaeikoc
Oeloo'xuy	Owaogosh	Oefoeawox	Imo'uxoey	Ago'aeqix	Ithuoetoed	Aeco'uhoet
O'foiriz	Idoeokug	Aesho'eyush	Ofaihay	Oxoisho't	Ohuaelef	Oexiovit
Uzuo'buk	Ereoekuc	Epoeoevep	Amoeoego'g	Aekaeigil	Eshoeonaed	Aeleayaew
Uceunaej	Uzoofez	Ireupaesp	O'saoethew	Aedoigoesh	Uqeemuw	Uzuo'noen
O'roaefuq	Axiaezoeg	Amaoethish	Ishoeaewew	Esheapush	Udooezoer	Oenoeoeyaem
Aediaspo'th	Oedoeo'baeb	Ono'aqix	Ociapaz	Isheaspuf	O'paoesoes	Uroeabug
Usho'o'spib	Oko'oegey	Evo'ego'z	Aewoikep	Ivoeaesuy	Uzaeagoex	Izuurow
Oenuofaz	Ohiaesho't	Oroanic	Uspaeo'ziq	Oyiajaer	Ospoo'goev	Aviujoet
Oeboeispuh	Aezoeevo'l	O'zo'oyil	Acaaxiv	Adioedasp	Areo'no'f	Ethuexor

Pattern    C V C    V V C V C V ... there are 9,169,829,888 possibilities.

Saesh Uaethoesi	Noem Aeipaeku	Nuq Aeovame	Fes Oeaelume	Rex Aeumeloe
Wec Ioesaepa	Nop Oeoeteko	Ro'z Oeubulu	Thusp Oeigoesae	Lok Oaeyo'po
Roex Aiwo'spe	Shus Uohodu	Taed Oeqaesi	Suy Aapaecoe	Ro'w Aeaehomoe
Taex Eutispae	Yaen Eotho'pa	Mid Eo'caewo'	Dek Aeaefuspoe	Git Aanohae
Mel Ouvuvu	Rul Ouqaemi	Tho'k Uesigoe	Woeth Uaco'qu	Taj Iuyuco
Faey Oaexaeno'	Noed Aoxabae	Do'l Oeumazo'	Yob Eushacoe	Yo'f Oeizaeni
Toj Ouhaekae	Hiw Eegelae	Doz Aeexo'tha	Xaep Aospishu	Qaez Oagagi
Jov Aoco'ji	Veh Aeo'bespo	Gil Oeaefuhe	Xik Auvaeve	Zoen Aisidu
Lir Aeuyejoe	Ko'z Ooefaexae	Pun Oeicapo	Vaep Ieyaebi	Tet Iuqespe
Joeth Aepozae	Ro'k O'oedoshi	Joek Uiqeta	Xaeb O'awo'do'	Muy Eewudi

Pattern    V C V - C V C    V V C V C V ... there are 13,497,989,595,136 possibilities.

Uqi-Thaesp Iolaeso'	Aemoe-Yix Uezuto	Iyu-Cit Oo'goesho'	Oefi-Bo'sp O'oeloeroe
Ofo'-Koer Oeo'mispoe	O'moe-Far Aaevoyoe	Oyi-Xuth Oo'cokoe	O'coe-Lis Aiboepe
Iso'-Spaw Uoro'ja	O'wa-Spak Oealinoe	O'qa-Spir Augari	Aegoe-Keb Oawodae
Aexo'-Fam Aeasho'be	Udoe-Vej O'o'noehu	Oesoe-Nax Iaerithoe	Oeyoe-Qoew Oeezotha
Oesho'-Cuf Oeixivae	Aboe-Tir Io'lana	Aedi-Suj Oeefuhoe	Oesho'-Pev Iivo'tho'
Ojae-Zij O'amito'	Uja-Vaek Ougobo	Aloe-Xiv Oeaethute	Aese-Ho'sh Eogefa
Uru-Xo's Easpo'yi	Uqa-Pav Oeo'jo'fe	Aeku-Buw Aajoeyi	Ibi-Ho'd Oosuthoe
Etu-Pux Uocemu	O'poe-Hap Oopaeto	Aefae-Poex Eo'maelo'	Uspi-Sex Eahaeki
Iyoe-Zum Eoqashe	O'ca-Kaen Iomoespu	Ogoe-Sab O'oyoejo	Aqae-Suv Aeuwo'yu
Ido'-Woeth Iadawe	Avu-Zoy Eolado'	Oesho-Naej O'alo'ya	Aede-Thesh Aeroebo'

Ralph Roberts, Author / Publisher /