Random Name Picker
Pick one or more names at random from a list — without repeats unless you ask for them. Built for classrooms, raffles, rota picks and giveaway draws.
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What this tool does
Pick one or more names at random from a list — without repeats unless you ask for them. Built for classrooms, raffles, rota picks and giveaway draws. Every name on the list has an equal chance on every draw. Blank lines are ignored.
How to use the Random Name Picker
- Enter or select names (one per line or comma-separated).
- Enter or select how many names to pick.
- Enter or select repeats.
- Read the calculated result; change any measurement to compare alternatives.
Formula
The list is shuffled with a crypto Fisher–Yates shuffle and the first N names are taken (draw without replacement), or each pick is an independent uniform draw when repeats are allowed.
- names
- Names (one per line or comma-separated)
- count
- How many names to pick
- mode
- Repeats
Every name on the list has an equal chance on every draw. Blank lines are ignored.
Worked example
Sample draw: from Alex, Priya, Jordan, Sam, Taylor and Casey, picking one name without repeats might return Jordan. Pick three and you might get Casey, Alex and Sam — the set changes on every draw, and no name can appear twice in a no-repeats draw.
Inputs
- Names (one per line or comma-separated)Alex Priya Jordan Sam Taylor Casey
- How many names to pick1
- RepeatsNo repeats (draw without replacement)
Result
- Random resultA fresh cryptographic result is generated locally in the calculator above.
Results explained
- Picked name(s)
- Picked name(s) from the formula above. Every name on the list has an equal chance on every draw. Blank lines are ignored.
- Names on the list
- Names on the list from the formula above. Every name on the list has an equal chance on every draw. Blank lines are ignored.
- Picked
- Picked from the formula above. Every name on the list has an equal chance on every draw. Blank lines are ignored.
Frequently asked questions
The whole list is shuffled using crypto.getRandomValues with rejection sampling (the same method as the Random Number Generator), then the requested number of names is read off the top. Every ordering is equally likely, so every name has the same chance.
Draw without replacement: once a name is picked it cannot be picked again in the same draw, like drawing slips from a hat without putting them back. You cannot pick more names than are on the list in this mode.
Yes — set 'How many names to pick'. That is the fastest way to draw a whole raffle's worth of winners or a week's worth of classroom helpers in one go.
Nothing you enter is uploaded or stored — the draw happens entirely in this browser tab and the list disappears when you close it.
Yes. The draw is uniform and made with cryptographic randomness, which is the same standard online raffle tools use. Keep a screenshot of the list and result if your giveaway rules need an audit trail — the site keeps nothing.
Separate draws are independent: yesterday's winner is just as likely today. Only within a single no-repeats draw is a duplicate impossible.