How to pick a random name
- Type or paste the names into the box, one per line. A column copied from Excel or Google Sheets arrives as one name per line. Blank lines and spaces at the start or end of a line are ignored, and the counter next to the options shows how many names the list contains.
- Set How many to pick. With 3, you get three different entries from the list, shown in the order they were drawn.
- Click Pick a winner. Names flicker for about a second before the result appears; if your device is set to reduce motion, the result appears at once.
- Tick Remove picked names from the list if winners should drop out, so the next click only draws from the names that are left.
The list is kept in this browser, so it is still there when you come back on the same device. To start a new list, select everything in the box and delete it.
Shuffling and making teams
Shuffle the list puts the whole list into a random order inside the box. Use it when you need a sequence rather than a single winner: the running order of speakers, presentation slots or turns in a game.
Under Split into random teams, enter the Number of teams and click Make teams. The list is shuffled and the names are dealt out one at a time, like playing cards, so team sizes never differ by more than one. When the names don’t divide evenly, the first teams get the extra people. Copy teams copies the result with one line per team, ready to paste into a chat, an email or a slide. Click Make teams again for a completely new split.
Examples
- Ten friends, three teams: the default list of ten names split into 3 teams gives teams of 4, 3 and 3.
- A class of 23 in four groups: groups of 6, 6, 6 and 5.
- Three prizes among 50 entrants: set How many to pick to 3. Each person has a 3 in 50 (6%) chance of being among the winners, and nobody can win twice in the same draw. If the prizes differ, you can use the order on screen for first, second and third prize – just announce that rule before you draw.
- Extra entries: a name that appears twice has twice the chance. If nine people have one entry and one person has earned a second, that person has 2 chances in 11 (about 18%) on a single pick, and everyone else 1 in 11.
Repeated names are kept on purpose. If every person should have exactly one entry, run the list through Remove Duplicate Lines first – otherwise a name listed twice could also come up twice when you pick several winners at once.
Why the draw is fair
The picker shuffles a copy of your list with the Fisher–Yates algorithm and takes names from the top. Fisher–Yates walks through the list from the end, swapping each position with a randomly chosen position at or before it, which makes every possible order equally likely. The random choices come from the browser’s cryptographically secure generator (crypto.getRandomValues), and random values that would slightly favour some positions are thrown away and drawn again. A name’s position in the list makes no difference: the first and the last name have exactly the same chance.
Some home-made pickers sort the list with a random comparison. That looks random, but it doesn’t make all orders equally likely, which is why this tool uses a proper shuffle.
Running a draw people will trust
- Decide the rules before you start: who is eligible, how many winners there are, whether extra entries count, and what happens if a winner doesn’t reply.
- Clean up the list first by removing ineligible or duplicate entries, then show the full list on screen.
- Draw while sharing your screen or on a recorded stream, so participants see the list and the result together.
- Draw reserve winners the same way: keep Remove picked names ticked and pick again from the people who are left.
FAQ
Can the same person win twice?
Not in a single pick, unless their name is in the list more than once. Across separate clicks they can, because each click draws from the whole list again – tick Remove picked names to prevent that.
How many names can I add?
There is no set limit. Lists of several thousand names work, which makes the picker better suited than a wheel to large giveaways.
I removed names by accident. Can I get them back?
Removed names are deleted from the box, so keep a copy of the full list somewhere else before a draw in which you remove winners. Pasting it back in restores everything.
Should I use this or the wheel?
Both are equally fair. The Spin the Wheel tool is more fun to watch for one winner at a time with a short list. The name picker is quicker for several winners at once, for long lists and for splitting people into teams. To pick numbers instead of names, use the Random Number Generator.