Suggested method for using ASCII sane names in naming places

Places should be searchable from US/UK ascii only keyboards.

data/culture/common.lua

@@ -9,23 +9,63 @@ local CultureName = {
 	surname = {},  -- List of 100 most common last names
 	name = "Name", -- Name of language / culture
 	code = "xx",   -- ISO ISO 639-1 language code
+	replace = {}   -- Non-ascii char to replacement char -table
 }
 
 function CultureName:New (o)
 	o = o or {}
 	setmetatable(o, self)
 	self.__index = self
+
+	-- Populate self.surname_ascii:
+
+	-- if replacement talbe empty, lanugage already ascii, just copy
+	if next(self.replace) == nil then
+		self.surname_ascii = self.surname
+	else
+    	-- else, loop over all names and replacement chars
+    	self.surname_ascii = {}
+    	for _, name in ipairs(self.surname) do
+    		for char1, char2 in pairs(self.replace) do
+    			name = name:gsub(char1, char2)
+    		end
+    		table.insert(self.surname_ascii, name)
+    	end
+	end
+
 	return o
 end
 
+
+-- Make table with ascii-friendly surnames
+function CultureName:asciify ()
+	-- if replacement talbe empty, lanugage already ascii, just copy
+	if next(self.replace) == nil then
+		self.surname_ascii = self.surname
+		return
+	end
+
+	-- else, loop over all names and replacement chars
+	self.surname_ascii = {}
+	for _, name in ipairs(self.surname) do
+		for char1, char2 in pairs(self.replace) do
+			name = name:gsub(char1, char2)
+		end
+		table.insert(self.surname_ascii, name)
+	end
+	return
+end
+
+
 function CultureName:FirstName (isFemale, rand)
 	local array = isFemale and self.female or self.male
 	return utils.chooseEqual(array, rand)
 end
 
 -- Some cultures have gender specific surnames
-function CultureName:Surname (isFemale, rand)
-	return utils.chooseEqual(self.surname, rand)
+function CultureName:Surname (isFemale, rand, ascii)
+	local surname = ascii and self.surname_ascii or self.surname
+	return utils.chooseEqual(surname, rand)
 end
 
 function CultureName:FullName (isFemale, rand)

data/culture/sv.lua

@@ -313,12 +313,31 @@ local surname={
 }
 
 
-local Swedish = CultureName:New()
+-- local Swedish = CultureName:New()
 
-Swedish.name = "Swedish"
-Swedish.code = "sv"
-Swedish.male = male
-Swedish.female = female
-Swedish.surname = surname
+replace = {
+	["å"] = "a", ["Å"] = "A",
+	["ä"] = "a", ["Ä"] = "A",
+	["ö"] = "o", ["Ö"] = "O"}
+
+-- local Swedish = CultureName:New(
+-- 	male = male,
+-- 	female = female,
+-- 	surname = surname,
+-- 	name = "Swedish",
+-- 	code = "sv",
+-- 	replace = replace,
+-- )
+
+
+local Swedish = CultureName:New({
+	male = male,
+	female = female,
+	surname = surname,
+	name = "Swedish",
+	code = "sv",
+	replace = replace})
+
+-- Swedish:asciify()
 
 return Swedish

data/libs/NameGen.lua

@@ -118,25 +118,27 @@ NameGen = {
 --   experimental
 --
 	BodyName = function (body, rand)
+		local ascii = true -- want only ascii compatible characers in name
+
 		if not rand then rand = Engine.rand end
 
 		if body.type == "STARPORT_ORBITAL" then
-			return string.interp(r(NameGen.orbitalStarportFormats, rand), { name = NameGen.Surname(rand) })
+			return string.interp(r(NameGen.orbitalStarportFormats, rand), { name = NameGen.Surname(rand, ascii) })
 		end
 
 		if body.type == "STARPORT_SURFACE" then
-			return string.interp(r(NameGen.surfaceStarportFormats, rand), { name = NameGen.Surname(rand) })
+			return string.interp(r(NameGen.surfaceStarportFormats, rand), { name = NameGen.Surname(rand, ascii) })
 		end
 
 		if body.superType == "ROCKY_PLANET" then
 
 			-- XXX -15-50C is "outdoor". once more planet composition
 			-- attributes are exposed we can do better here
 			if body.averageTemp >= 258 and body.averageTemp <= 323 then
-				return string.interp(r(NameGen.outdoorPlanetFormats, rand), { name = NameGen.Surname(rand) })
+				return string.interp(r(NameGen.outdoorPlanetFormats, rand), { name = NameGen.Surname(rand, ascii) })
 			end
 
-			return string.interp(r(NameGen.rockPlanetFormats, rand), { name = NameGen.Surname(rand) })
+			return string.interp(r(NameGen.rockPlanetFormats, rand), { name = NameGen.Surname(rand, ascii) })
 		end
 
 		error("No available namegen for body type '" .. body.type .. "'")