Random Address Generator
The random address generator produces placeholder postal addresses in US or UK format, in batches of up to 100. Street names are common tree names, town names are generated from English place-name elements, and postcodes are format-correct but not checked against any real postal database, so no generated address resolves to a real building.
How it works
- Street: a number from 100 to 9,099, one of 16 tree names, and one of 8 street types, 128 street name combinations.
- Town: generated from the same 22 prefixes and 16 suffixes as the town name generator, giving 352 possible towns.
- US postcode: a five-digit number, matching the ZIP format without being a real ZIP.
- UK postcode: two letters, a digit, a space, a digit and two letters, the most common UK format, with the letters that never appear in real postcodes excluded.
These are format-valid but not real. An address validation service that checks against a postal database will correctly reject them, which is often exactly what you want to test.
Examples
US format
Format
US
How many
2
Result
4820 Rowan Lane Ashcombe 48213 1174 Hazel Terrace Thornwick 90355
Two lines each: street then town and ZIP. The town names come from real English place-name elements, so they read as plausible while being invented.
UK format with a name
Format
UK
Include a name
Name and address
Result
Amara Kirkwood 2907 Juniper Close Netherholm KM4 7RT
The UK postcode follows the two-letter, digit, space, digit, two-letter pattern. Letters that never appear in real postcodes, such as I and O, are excluded from the generator.
Frequently asked questions
Are these real addresses?
No. Street numbers, street names, towns and postcodes are all generated independently, so nothing resolves to a real building. A generated town may coincide with a real village by chance, because the place-name elements are so productive, but the full address will not.
Will these pass address validation?
They pass format checks but fail lookup checks. Anything validating against a postal database (the Royal Mail PAF, or USPS) will correctly reject them, which is usually the behaviour you want to confirm your validation is actually working.
Why exclude certain letters from UK postcodes?
Because real UK postcodes never use I, O or several other letters in particular positions, to avoid confusion with digits. Generating them would produce addresses that a well-written validator flags as impossible rather than merely unknown.
How is this different from the fake identity generator?
The identity generator produces one complete person, name, email, phone and address together. This produces addresses in bulk, up to 100 at a time, which is what you want when seeding a table of delivery locations rather than a table of users.