About this tool
The Random Name Picker chooses winners from a list you paste in. Each draw uses your browser's secure random source, every name has the same chance, and the list never leaves your device.
How to use the Random Name Picker
- Paste your names, one per line. Blank lines are ignored.
- Choose how many winners you need. They are all different entries from the list.
- Turn on removal if the same name should not win twice across several draws.
- Press Pick. Each draw is added to the history below the winner box.
Common uses
- Choosing a giveaway or raffle winner
- Calling on students without favouring anyone
- Deciding who goes first, who presents, or who cleans up
- Splitting a group by drawing names in order
How the draw is made
The tool builds a copy of your list and shuffles it with the Fisher–Yates method, using random values from crypto.getRandomValues with a rejection step so no entry is favoured by rounding. The first names in the shuffled list are your winners. That makes every possible set of winners equally likely.
Things to watch out for
A name typed twice counts as two entries and has two chances, which is handy for weighted raffles (one entry per ticket) but easy to do by accident. Check the entry count under the box. If you draw several winners in one go, they are always different entries; if you draw one at a time without removal, the same name can win again. For picking numbers instead of names, use the Random Number Generator. To split a list into teams, use the Random Team Generator.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. It uses your browser's cryptographic random source and a standard unbiased shuffle, so every entry has the same chance on every draw.
No. The list stays in your browser tab. Nothing is sent to a server and nothing is saved after you close the page.
Yes. Set the number of winners up to 200. They are all different entries from the list.
Turn on "Remove winners from the list after each pick". Each winner is deleted from the list as soon as they are drawn, so later draws cannot choose them again.
Each line is a separate entry, so a name typed twice has two chances. Remove the extra line if you want one chance per person.