Random name picker

A random name picker chooses names from a list you already have, like drawing slips of paper from a hat. It's the right tool when the list exists and the only question is who goes next, who wins or whose turn it is.

Common uses:

• Giveaways: pick one or more winners from commenters or entrants.
• School: who answers, who comes to the board, who presents first.
• Work: who runs the stand-up, who's on call this weekend, who takes the next ticket.
• Home and friends: who does the dishes, who picks the movie, who rides shotgun.

If you need new, made-up names for characters or test data, that's the job of the random name generator. If you'd rather watch a spinning wheel, spin the wheel uses the same kind of list.

You can pick more than one name per click. Need three winners? Set the number to three and you get three different names in one go.

No repeats is on by default: a picked name stays out of later picks until you put it back. That lets you work through a whole class or team so nobody is picked twice before everyone has had a turn. Picked names are listed under the box, and one click returns them all.

To remove winners for good (say, before a second prize round), Delete picked names from the list takes them out of the text too.

Names can be weighted: *Emma 2 has twice the chance, and *Emma 0 sits out without being deleted. That's useful when extra entries earn extra chances.

Names are chosen by your browser's cryptographic random number generator, the same kind used for password generators. The shuffle animation is only for show: the result is decided when you press the button, and timing or earlier picks don't affect it.

Names on the list	Chance per name, one pick	Chance of being among 3 winners
10	10%	30%
20	5%	15%
30	3.33%	10%
100	1%	3%
500	0.2%	0.6%

With no repeats, each new pick is shared among the names that are left: 1 in 20 for the first of 20 names, then 1 in 19, and so on, until everyone has been picked exactly once.

For a projector, smartboard or livestream, use full screen: the picked name appears in huge type with confetti and a short fanfare. You can turn sound and confetti off, and confetti is skipped automatically if your device is set to reduce motion.

Keys: Space or Enter to pick, F for full screen, Esc to exit. Typing in the list never triggers a pick, so you can edit freely.

When other people care about the result, being transparent matters as much as being random:

• Post the rules first: how many winners, who's eligible and what counts as an entry.
• Clean the list. Remove duplicates takes out names that appear twice, if someone entered more than once.
• Show the list before you pick, and record your screen while you draw.
• Keep a record. Every pick is saved with the time, and you can copy it or download a CSV file.

Your list stays in your browser. It isn't uploaded, and nobody else can see it.