---
id: friendlywords
version: "1.3.0"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# friendlywords — Python package to generate random human-readable strings, e.g. project and experiment names

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 76.0K/mo

## What it is and what it does

friendlywords is a lightweight Python library that generates random, human-readable strings by combining words from four predefined categories: predicates, objects, teams, and collections. It loads word lists (~41KB) once at import and offers a simple API to generate names by count, grammar pattern, or custom separator. The package has no runtime dependencies and is fully typed.

It's designed for naming projects, experiments, or temporary identifiers where readability matters more than cryptographic uniqueness. You can control randomness by passing your own random.Random instance for reproducibility, or return results as lists instead of strings. The author acknowledges it as a weekend side project and notes that generated names are readable, not unguessable—unsuitable as secrets or unique identifiers.

Use it for:

- Generate readable project or experiment names for logs, dashboards, or user-facing labels.
- Create temporary identifiers for test runs or CI/CD pipeline stages that are easy to reference verbally.
- Build random team or collection names for gaming, simulation, or organizational tools.
- Seed reproducible name generation in tests by passing a seeded random.Random instance.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Generates random human-readable strings from predefined word lists for naming projects, experiments, or other identifiers.

Yes, if you need simple, readable random names with no dependencies and don't require uniqueness guarantees or custom dictionaries. The low friction, active maintenance, and MIT license make it straightforward to adopt. No if you need collision avoidance, cryptographic strength, or extensive customization.

## Install

pip install friendlywords
uv add friendlywords
poetry add friendlywords

## Installing friendlywords

Before you install: Low install friction with no runtime dependencies. Active maintenance as of 2026-08-02, marked Production/Stable, and supports current Python versions.

License in practice: MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; attribution required but no copyleft obligations.

Quickstart:

pip install friendlywords

import friendlywords as fw

fw.generate(1)
# 'square'
fw.generate('po', separator='-')
# 'better-tabletop'
fw.generate('po', rng=__import__('random').Random(42))
# 'tidal cardboard'

Requires Python 3.9 or later.

Verify before relying:

- Whether word lists can be extended or replaced with custom dictionaries beyond the four built-in categories.
- Performance characteristics when generating large batches of names or with very long grammar patterns.
- Collision probability or uniqueness guarantees across repeated generations.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 76.0K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

random name generator, human readable string generation, project name generator, random word combinations, friendly names, experiment naming, readable identifier generator, naming, random-generation

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/friendlywords) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/friendlywords/)