Random Name Picker and Team Generator
Paste a list of names, one per line, and choose what to do with it: pick one or several winners with no repeats, shuffle the whole list into a random order, or split everyone into teams of a size or number you choose. Press the button again for a fresh draw, and copy the result. Your list never leaves your browser.
Each name has a 10% chance
Every draw uses a Fisher-Yates shuffle driven by your browser's cryptographically secure random generator, so every order and every group is equally likely, with no seed and no pattern to predict. Picking never repeats a name, and teams are balanced so that no team is more than one person larger than another. Press the button again for a fresh draw. Your list never leaves your browser.
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Developer & WebAbout the Random Name Picker and Team Generator
Fairness comes from two things: an unbiased shuffle and a good source of randomness. The tool uses the Fisher-Yates shuffle, which walks down the list and swaps each position with a randomly chosen earlier or equal position, so that every one of the n factorial possible orders is equally likely. A naive approach such as sorting with a random comparison does not have this property. The random numbers come from your browser's cryptographically secure generator, the same one used for passwords, so the draw cannot be predicted from earlier draws. Picking winners is the first few steps of the same shuffle, so no name can win twice, and each name has the same chance of being chosen, the number picked divided by the number of names. Teams are made by shuffling the list and cutting it into pieces whose sizes differ by at most one, so 10 people in 3 teams make teams of 4, 3 and 3. Repeated names can be removed, ignoring capital letters and extra spaces, so that nobody gets a double chance by accident. The tool handles up to 5,000 names. It is suitable for giveaways, classroom turns, secret santa style drawings, sports teams and stand up order. For a prize draw with legal requirements, check the rules that apply to you.
Is the random name picker fair?▾
Yes. It uses the Fisher-Yates shuffle with your browser's cryptographically secure random generator, so every name has an equal chance and every possible order is equally likely. There is no seed or hidden weighting.
Can the same name be picked twice?▾
No. Names are drawn without replacement, so each name appears at most once in a result. To allow repeats, run the draw again. If your list contains the same name twice, the option to remove repeated names stops it from having a double chance.
How are teams divided when the numbers do not split evenly?▾
The teams differ in size by at most one person. Ten people in three teams make teams of 4, 3 and 3. You can split by the number of teams or by the number of people per team.
Is my list uploaded?▾
No. The draw happens in your browser and nothing you enter is sent anywhere.