namegen.py

import sys
import string
import random

syllable_patterns = [
	# _ => consonant
	# -, + => vowel
	"_-"
	, "_-+"
	, "__-"
	, "-_"
]

vowels = "aeiouy"
consonants = ''.join(c for c in string.ascii_lowercase if c not in vowels)


def create_syllable():
	pattern = random.choice(syllable_patterns)
	output = pattern.replace('_', random.choice(consonants)) \
					.replace('-', random.choice(vowels))     \
					.replace('+', random.choice(vowels))
	return output


def main(args):
	count = 10
	minimum = 2
	maximum = 4
	
	if args:
		try:
			count = int(args[0])
		except ValueError:
			print("Couldn't parse integer for 'count'")
	if args[1:]:
		try:
			minimum = int(args[1])
		except ValueError:
			print("Couldn't parse integer for 'minimum'")
	if args[2:]:
		try:
			maximum = int(args[2])
		except ValueError:
			print("Couldn't parse integer for 'maximum'")
	
	output = ""
	for i in range(count):
		output += "{:16}".format(''.join(create_syllable() for i in range(random.randrange(minimum, maximum))))
		if i and not i % 5:
			output += "\n"
	print(output)


if __name__ == '__main__':
	main(sys.argv[1:])