Random Name Picker
Paste your names, one per line, and pick one or several at random. Tick a box to take each winner out of the pool, so cold calls, presentation order and prize draws never repeat someone, and a running history records every pick. Free, no sign-up, and your list never leaves your browser.
0 names entered · 0 in the pool
Options
How to Use the Random Name Picker
- 1. Paste the names. One per line. Blank lines and stray spaces are ignored, and the counter under the box shows how many names are entered and how many are still in the pool.
- 2. Say how many to pick. The default is one name per click. Raise Names to pick to draw several different names at once.
- 3. Decide whether winners leave the pool. Tick Remove picked names from the pool for cold calls, presentation order and prizes. Leave it unticked if the same name may be chosen again.
- 4. Pick. Press the button; the result appears in the highlighted panel and is added to the history below. Reset Pool puts every name back and clears the history.
Why Removing Winners Matters
A picker that puts every name back after each draw is drawing with replacement, and the result surprises teachers who expect it to cycle fairly through the class. Call on a class of 24 that way, 24 times, and each student has only a (23/24)24 ≈ 36.0% chance of never being picked — so about a third of the class is skipped while others are called two or three times. Tick the removal box and the same 24 picks reach every student exactly once, in random order.
The same logic applies to prizes. Picking three winners at once from 40 entries gives each entry a 3/40 = 7.5% chance, and the three names are always different. Picking one winner three times with removal ticked gives exactly the same odds; picking three times with removal off could hand one person two prizes.
How the Picks Are Made
Each pick takes one line at random from those still available, using your browser's cryptographic random source (crypto.getRandomValues) with rejection sampling, so every remaining line is exactly as likely as any other and no position or spelling is favoured. When you ask for several, each is taken out of the running before the next is drawn, so no line comes up twice in one click. Rejection sampling discards the uneven tail of the generator's range, which is what removes the small bias that scaling a random fraction onto a list length would leave. The draw has no seed and cannot be replayed, so for a prize with real money behind it, publish the entry list first, draw in front of the entrants, and keep the history list as the record.
Duplicate names
The picker treats every line as an entry. Typing a name twice gives that person two chances, which is a simple way to weight a draw when removal is off. With removal on, picking a name takes out only the line that was drawn, so a second copy of the same name stays in the pool with its own chance.
Which Tool Do You Need?
| If you want… | Use |
|---|---|
| One or several names from a list of any length, with a history | This Random Name Picker |
| A spinning wheel for a handful of options (2–20) — a visual, one-spin decision | Wheel Spinner |
| Everyone split into teams or pairs | Random Group Generator |
| A gift exchange where nobody draws themselves or a partner | Secret Santa Generator |
| Players seeded into a knockout or round-robin schedule | Tournament Bracket Generator |
| Numbers, such as ticket numbers, instead of names | Random Number Generator |
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I pick a random name from a list?
- Paste the names into the box, one per line, and press the pick button. One name is chosen at random and shown in the highlighted panel. Raise Names to pick if you need several different names at once.
- How do I stop the same name from being picked twice?
- Tick Remove picked names from the pool. Every winner leaves the pool, the Left in pool count drops, and Reset Pool restores the full list. With the box unticked, each click draws from the whole list again, so repeats are possible.
- Is the random name picker really random?
- It uses your browser's cryptographic random source with rejection sampling, so every name has an exactly equal chance and no name is favored by its position or spelling. It is a software-generated draw rather than a certified one, which is fine for classrooms and giveaways but means a high-stakes prize draw should be run openly, with the list published beforehand.
- Can I use it to pick giveaway or raffle winners?
- Yes. Paste the entrants, tick the removal box so nobody wins twice, set Names to pick to the number of prizes and draw. The history list keeps every pick in order. Check the entry list for duplicates first, because each line counts as an entry.
- How many names can I paste, and how many can I pick?
- There is no set limit on the list; it is only your browser's memory. The field is set for up to 100 names per click, and a request larger than the pool simply returns every remaining name in random order.
- Are the names I paste uploaded anywhere?
- No. The picker runs entirely in your browser — the list is never sent to a server and is gone when you close or refresh the page, so keep your own copy if you need it again.