def fix_reference_name(name, blacklist=None):
    """Return a syntax-valid Python reference name from an arbitrary name"""
    name = "".join(re.split(r'[^0-9a-zA-Z_]', name))
    while name and not re.match(r'([a-zA-Z]+[0-9a-zA-Z_]*)$', name):
        if not re.match(r'[a-zA-Z]', name[0]):
            name = name[1:]
            continue
    name = str(name)
    if not name:
        name = "data"
    if blacklist is not None and name in blacklist:
        get_new_name = lambda index: name+('%03d' % index)
        index = 0
        while get_new_name(index) in blacklist:
            index += 1
        name = get_new_name(index)
    return name
Return a syntax-valid Python reference name from an arbitrary name