Random Name Picker Wheel
Enter your names, spin the wheel and get a fair random winner, several winners with no repeats, or evenly sized teams.
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A wheel that lands on a fair result
The winner is chosen first with your browser's cryptographic random generator, using rejection sampling so that every entry has exactly the same chance. The wheel then spins and stops on that entry.
Several winners, no repeats
Draw up to 50 winners at once, remove each winner so nobody is picked twice, and restore everyone to start again. Results from this visit are listed and can be copied as text.
Teams from the same list
Split the list into a number of teams or into teams of a set size. Names are shuffled with the same unbiased random source and dealt so that team sizes differ by at most one.
How to pick a random name with the wheel
- 1
Type or paste your names into the box, one per line.
- 2
Choose how many winners to draw and whether winners are removed from later draws.
- 3
Select Spin the wheel. The wheel stops on the winner and the result appears under it.
- 4
To make teams instead, choose a number of teams or a team size and select Make teams.
What people use this tool for
- Call on students at random, without repeats, until everyone has had a turn.
- Pick giveaway winners from a list of entrants while your audience watches.
- Split a class, a club or a work group into random teams of similar size.
- Decide who goes first, who presents next or who takes a chore.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the random name picker choose a winner?
Each line in the box is one entry. When you spin, the tool picks an entry with crypto.getRandomValues, the browser's cryptographic random generator. Random numbers that would make some entries slightly more likely are thrown away and drawn again (rejection sampling), so every entry has exactly equal odds. Only then does the wheel move, and it stops on the entry already chosen.
Is the wheel spinner really random and fair?
Every entry in the draw has the same chance on every spin, and earlier results do not affect later ones unless you remove winners. A name typed on two lines is two entries and has two chances; use Remove duplicates if you do not want that. The tool suits classrooms, giveaways and choosing teams. It is not a certified or auditable lottery draw: it keeps no independent record that someone else could check afterwards.
How many names can I add?
Up to 1,000 entries of up to 60 characters each. Blank lines and spaces around a name are ignored, longer names are shortened and lines after the first 1,000 are left out; the count under the box says when that happens. The wheel is drawn for up to 100 entries. Above that the names would be too small to read, so the tool draws straight from the list with the same odds.
How do I pick several winners or avoid picking the same person twice?
Set Winners per draw to any number from 1 to 50. Winners in one draw are always different entries, and you can never draw more than remain. Tick Remove the winner after each draw to keep winners out of later draws; Restore everyone puts them all back. With several winners, the wheel stops on the first name drawn and the result lists them all in order.
How are teams made, and what happens to leftovers?
The list is shuffled with a Fisher-Yates shuffle driven by the same random source, then dealt into teams. By number of teams, the first teams listed get one extra person each when the names do not divide evenly. By people per team, the tool makes the fewest teams that keep every team at or under that size. Either way, team sizes differ by at most one, and teams use every name in the list, including winners removed from the wheel.
Can I use it with a keyboard, or without the animation?
Yes. Spin the wheel is an ordinary button, so it works from the keyboard and with a screen reader, and each result is announced as well as shown. If your device is set to reduce motion, the wheel does not spin; it moves straight to the winning name.
Is my list saved or uploaded?
Nothing is uploaded; the draw happens in your browser. The list lasts only for this visit unless you tick Remember this list on this device, which stores it in this browser's local storage. Untick the box or select Clear list to erase the saved copy. The results history is never stored.
Can I copy or keep the results?
Every draw and team split from this visit is listed under Results from this visit. Copy results puts the whole list on your clipboard as plain text, ready to paste into a message or a spreadsheet. Clear results empties the list.