fakedata

List all valid generators

$ fakedata --generators

$ fakedata [generator1] [generator2]

$ fakedata [[-f|--format]] [csv|tab|sql] [generator]

$ fakedata [[-l|--limit]] [n] [generator]

$ echo "[\{\{Generator\}\]}" | fakedata

fakedata [type [type ...]] [-h] [-c COUNT] [-l LOCALE] [-s SEED]

-h, --help
    Show help message and exit

-c COUNT, --count COUNT
    Number of items to generate per type (default: 1)

-l LOCALE, --locale LOCALE
    Locale for data generation, e.g., 'en_US', 'fr_FR' (default: en_US)

-s SEED, --seed SEED
    Integer seed for reproducible random data

type
    Data type(s) like 'name', 'email', 'address', 'phone', 'company', 'text', etc. Run without args for list

fakedata is a lightweight command-line utility for generating fake but realistic data such as names, emails, addresses, phone numbers, and more. Built on the Faker library, it allows users to quickly produce sample data for testing, demos, or prototyping without needing to write scripts.

Invoke it by specifying one or more data types, and it outputs corresponding fake values. Ideal for developers, testers, and DBAs needing placeholder data. Supports locales for culturally appropriate output and seeding for reproducible results. Install via pip install fakedata; not included in standard Linux distributions.

Not a core Linux utility; requires Python 3 and pip install fakedata. Limited to Faker providers; no custom templates. Output is random unless seeded.

pip install fakedata or pipx install fakedata for isolated env.

fakedata name email -c 3
Generates 3 names and emails.
fakedata -l de_DE address
German addresses.

Developed by Simon Franken; first PyPI release ~2013. Inspired by Faker library (2007+). Actively maintained on GitHub with updates for new locales and types.

faker (Python lib), pwgen(1), uuidgen(1), seq(1)