Random Name Picker
Paste a list of names and draw one at random, with a reveal that flicks through the list and slows into the winner so a room full of people can watch it happen. The winner is chosen from your browser's cryptographic random numbers before the first frame is drawn, so the spin is theatre over a decided result. Set aside keeps a picked name out of the pool for the draws that follow, which is what turns a single pick into a running order.
The pick
Ready
No names yet.
The same chance for every nameSet aside really removes a nameNothing leaves your browserNo account, no list length limit
No draw yet. Pick draws a name from the pool.
Press Space to pick without reaching for the mouse. Names are separated by line breaks and by commas, so a column pasted from a spreadsheet and a comma list both work. Editing the list rebuilds the pool and clears the draws, and Reset pool puts every name back and clears the draws without touching the list.
The spin decides nothing. The winner is drawn from crypto.getRandomValues the moment you press Pick, and the names that flick past afterwards are frames built to end on it. Watching it cannot change who came out. Each name in the pool has the same chance on every draw: the index is taken by rejection sampling rather than a remainder, so no position in your list is favoured. A name typed twice is two entries in the pool, which is how you give someone two chances, and the Names header counts the repeats so it is never a surprise.
Accuracy. Each name has the same chance on every draw, from the browser's cryptographic generator. With 'set aside' on, a picked name is removed from the pool so later draws come from the rest.
Common questions
- Is the pick actually fair?
- Yes. The index is drawn from crypto.getRandomValues, the browser's own cryptographic generator, and mapped onto the pool by rejection sampling rather than by a remainder. A remainder would hand the first few names in your list one extra chance each, because 2 to the power 32 is not a multiple of most list lengths. Draws landing above the last whole multiple are thrown away and redrawn instead, so every name in the pool has exactly the same chance on every draw. The reveal animation is built after the winner has been chosen, working backwards from it, so nothing you see on screen has any say in the result.
- How do I stop the same name coming up twice?
- Leave the Picked name control on Set aside, which is the default. A name that has been drawn is removed from the pool and cannot come up again, so drawing repeatedly gives you a running order with nobody repeated until the pool is empty. Switch it to Keep in pool and every name stays in, which means the same one really can win twice: that is the right setting when each draw is a separate question, such as picking who answers each of five unrelated questions. The note under the controls says which of the two just happened, and the Pool readout counts what is left.
- Can I pick more than one name at a time?
- Yes. Pick count draws that many names in one go: the reveal flicks to the first name drawn and then shows the whole draw, with every name drawn so far listed underneath it. With Set aside on the names in a single draw are always different from each other and all of them leave the pool. You cannot ask for more names than the pool holds: the tool says how many are left and asks you to lower the count or add more names, rather than quietly returning a shorter list.
- Can I use it for a raffle or a giveaway?
- Yes, and there is one thing worth knowing first: a name typed twice is two entries in the pool, so it has two chances. That is how you weight a raffle where somebody earned extra tickets, and it is also an easy accident, so the Names header counts the repeats for you. Everything runs in your browser, so there is no server that could be asked to change the outcome, and no record of the draw beyond the list of draws on your own screen. Copy draws puts the whole sequence on the clipboard as plain text if you need to post the result.
- Does it work for a classroom?
- That is what Set aside is for. Paste the register once and it is remembered in this browser, then press the space bar to call on the next student. Nobody is called twice until everyone has been called, and Reset pool puts the whole class back for the next lesson without retyping the list. Editing the list rebuilds the pool, so adding a late arrival starts the round again from the full register.
- Is there a limit on how many names I can paste?
- No limit is imposed. The tool runs entirely in your browser with nothing uploaded and no account, so the practical ceiling is your device's memory rather than a plan. Names are separated by line breaks and by commas, which means a column copied out of a spreadsheet and a comma list typed by hand both work. Your list and settings are remembered in this browser only, and the last 100 draws are listed on screen until you edit the list, press Reset pool or close the page. The draws themselves are never saved.
Each name has the same chance on every draw, from the browser's cryptographic generator. With 'set aside' on, a picked name is removed from the pool so later draws come from the rest.