Name Generator Service¶

Overview¶

The Name Generator service (name.generator) generates random sample names for testing and development purposes.

Service ID: name.generator Class: Drupal\name\NameGenerator Interface: Drupal\name\NameGeneratorInterface

Basic Usage¶

Generating Sample Names¶

$generator = \Drupal::service('name.generator');

// Generate 3 sample names (default)
$names = $generator->generateSampleNames();

// Generate 5 sample names
$names = $generator->generateSampleNames(5);

// Generate names for a specific field
$field_definition = $entity->getFieldDefinition('field_name');
$names = $generator->generateSampleNames(10, $field_definition);

Generated Name Structure¶

Each generated name is an array with all components:

$names = $generator->generateSampleNames(1);
$name = $names[0];

// Structure:
[
  'title' => 'Dr.',
  'given' => 'John',
  'middle' => 'Robert',
  'family' => 'Smith',
  'generational' => 'Jr.',
  'credentials' => 'PhD',
]

Method Reference¶

generateSampleNames()¶

Generates an array of random sample names.

public function generateSampleNames(
  $limit = 3,
  ?FieldDefinitionInterface $field_definition = NULL
);

Parameters:

$limit (int) - Number of names to generate (default: 3)
$field_definition (FieldDefinitionInterface|null) - Optional field definition to use field-specific settings

Returns: array - Array of name component arrays

loadSampleValues()¶

Loads sample values for a specific component.

public function loadSampleValues($component, $gender = NULL);

Parameters:

$component (string) - Component name ('title', 'given', 'middle', 'family', 'credentials', 'generational')
$gender (string|null) - Gender filter ('m' or 'f'), NULL for all

Returns: array - Array of sample values for the component

Sample Data¶

The generator includes built-in sample data for each component:

Title Examples¶

Dr., Mr., Mrs., Ms., Prof., Rev., etc.

Given Names¶

Gender-specific names (male and female)
Common first names from various cultures

Middle Names¶

Similar to given names
Can be empty or same as given names

Family Names¶

Common surnames
International surnames

Generational Suffixes¶

Jr., Sr., II, III, IV, etc.

Credentials¶

PhD, MD, DDS, JD, MBA, etc.

Configuration¶

Sample data comes from configuration at: /admin/config/regional/name

Generate Preferred (name.generate.preferred)
Generate Alternative (name.generate.components)
Generate Examples (name.generate.examples)

Use Cases¶

Testing¶

// Generate test data for unit tests
public function testNameFormatting() {
  $generator = \Drupal::service('name.generator');
  $names = $generator->generateSampleNames(10);

  $formatter = \Drupal::service('name.formatter');
  foreach ($names as $name) {
    $formatted = $formatter->format($name, 'full');
    $this->assertNotEmpty($formatted);
  }
}

Populating Demo Content¶

use Drupal\node\Entity\Node;

// Create demo nodes with name fields
$generator = \Drupal::service('name.generator');
$names = $generator->generateSampleNames(20);

foreach ($names as $name) {
  $node = Node::create([
    'type' => 'person',
    'title' => $name['given'] . ' ' . $name['family'],
    'field_full_name' => $name,
  ]);
  $node->save();
}

Form Placeholders¶

// Get a sample name for placeholder text
$generator = \Drupal::service('name.generator');
$sample = $generator->generateSampleNames(1);
$placeholder = $sample[0]['given'] . ' ' . $sample[0]['family'];

$form['name'] = [
  '#type' => 'textfield',
  '#title' => t('Full Name'),
  '#placeholder' => $placeholder,
];

Field-Specific Generation¶

When a field definition is provided, the generator respects field settings:

$field_definition = FieldConfig::loadByName('node', 'person', 'field_name');
$names = $generator->generateSampleNames(5, $field_definition);

// Generated names will only include enabled components
// and respect min/max length constraints

Gender-Specific Names¶

// Load male given names
$male_names = $generator->loadSampleValues('given', 'm');

// Load female given names
$female_names = $generator->loadSampleValues('given', 'f');

// Load all family names (no gender)
$family_names = $generator->loadSampleValues('family');

Dependency Injection¶

namespace Drupal\my_module\Service;

use Drupal\name\NameGeneratorInterface;

class MyTestDataService {

  protected $nameGenerator;

  public function __construct(NameGeneratorInterface $name_generator) {
    $this->nameGenerator = $name_generator;
  }

  public function createTestUsers($count) {
    $names = $this->nameGenerator->generateSampleNames($count);
    // Process names...
  }
}