Random Name Picker and Name Wheel

How to use it

1. Paste or import your listType one name per line, paste a column from a spreadsheet, or import a .txt or .csv file. Remove duplicates cleans up repeated lines in one click.
2. Choose how names are drawnCheck Everyone once before anyone twice so no name repeats early, or raise Names per pick in Options to draw several names at once.
3. Press Pick a nameThe reveal rolls through your names and stops on the result, or the name wheel turns if you chose Spin on a wheel. Press again for the next name, or open Present to show it large on a projector.

What the name picker does

• Picks one name from your list with a big reveal, or turns the same list into a random name wheel spinner with Spin on a wheel, up to 200 names.
• Works as a name spinner for a class or a meeting: spin the wheel names one turn at a time, with no repeats until everyone has had a go.
• Serves as a random picker wheel for anything short: names, books, dinners or drills, one per line.
• Becomes a name randomizer wheel for turns: with no repeats on, names come up like cards from a shuffled deck.
• Acts as a random name selector for several people at once: raise Names per pick to draw up to 50 different names.
• Is a name wheel generator for your own list, not a random name generator wheel that invents names: it picks only from the names you type.
• Makes a wheel spinner name picker for the front of a room: Present (the F key) hides the editor and leaves the wheel or the big name.

What this picker is for

A name picker answers one small question quickly: who, out of this list? It suits a book club prize, choosing who speaks first in a meeting, deciding whose turn it is to bring snacks, or finding one person among fifty. The list can hold names, nicknames, usernames or any short text, so it also works for choosing a book from a reading pile or a restaurant from a shortlist.

By default this page shows a large name that rolls and lands. That keeps attention on the result when the list is long: a wheel with 80 slices turns into a blur of tiny labels, while one big line of text stays readable from the back of a room. For a shorter list, press Spin on a wheel under the button and the same names go onto a name wheel with a pointer, up to 200 slices. Show it large instead switches back, and the choice is kept on this device and in a shared link.

Getting a list in

Each line becomes one entry. If your names live in a spreadsheet, copy the column and paste it into the box; the line breaks come along for free. A .txt or .csv file can be imported directly, which saves retyping when the list is longer than a screen.

Lists collect duplicates quickly, especially when people sign up twice or two sources get merged. Use Remove duplicates before you draw, because a name that appears twice has double the chance of being picked, and that is rarely what you meant. If you do want one person to count more than once, say so on purpose by writing a weight after the name, for example Maya *3, which makes that entry three times as likely.

Shuffle and Sort only tidy the display. Neither changes anyone's odds, since the pick does not depend on where a name sits in the list.

Names with accents, apostrophes or non-Latin scripts are fine: the entries are plain text. Lines that start with a hash sign are treated as comments and skipped, which lets you keep notes beside a list without them entering the draw.

Picking without repeats

By default every press is an independent draw, so the same name can come up twice in a row. That is correct for a random pick, and it is also what people complain about most when they use a picker for turns. Switch on the option that gives everyone one turn before anyone gets a second, and the picker deals names like cards from a shuffled deck. When the deck runs empty, the next press starts a new round and a note says every name is back in.

Use this where repeats feel unfair: choosing readers, handing out small tasks, calling on volunteers. Leave it off where independence is the point, such as a weekly pick among the same group where last week's result should not influence this week's.

Need several names at once? Open Options and raise Names per pick, up to 50. The first name appears large and the rest follow as a Then line, in the order they were drawn, and the Results tab logs each one with its place. Names within one pick never repeat. A multi-name pick draws from the whole list, though, and does not use the no-repeat deck, so a name from an earlier pick can come up again in the next one. For a proper winner draw with a proof link, the giveaway picker is built for that.

How the choice is made

As with any fair random selector, the name is chosen first; the rolling text and the turning wheel are decoration. Randomness comes from the browser's cryptographic generator. Both a plain pick and the no-repeat deck use rejection sampling, so no plain remainder adds a slight bias. Each name has the same chance unless you gave it a weight, and the result line shows the share of the list that name held.

The animation cannot change the outcome, because it starts after the winner is known. The roll through other names is only a few seconds of suspense. You can shorten it in Options, where spin time runs from 1 to 20 seconds; the roll lasts about 0.6 seconds per second of spin time, capped at four, while the name wheel turns for the full spin time. It shrinks to a brief fade if your device is set to reduce motion.

If other people need to trust the result, such as entrants to a prize draw, turn on the verifiable draw. It ties the pick to a public random value published after you lock the list, so anyone can recompute it afterward. A verifiable draw returns one name per draw; for several verified winners, use the giveaway picker. A proof cannot show whether an organizer ran several draws and kept the best, so share the round or proof link before you start.

Showing it to a group

Present mode hides the editor and leaves the result and the Pick a name button, which is what you want on a classroom screen, a shared video call or a stream. Press F to enter it and Escape to leave. The Results tab keeps a history with times, and you can copy it when somebody asks who was picked earlier.

Your last list is saved on this device, so reopening the page brings it back. You can also save named lists in My wheels, or copy a link that carries the entire list after the # sign. Anyone who opens that link sees the names, so share it only with people who are meant to see them.

Name picker or something else?

Teachers who return to the same class every day usually want the student picker, which remembers the roster, lets you mark who is away today and keeps turns fair across the whole cycle. This page is the more general tool for any list that changes from one use to the next.

If the goal is a sequence, such as who presents first, second and third, the random order generator returns the whole list in a numbered order. If you need groups, the team generator splits the list into balanced teams. A name picker returns one name; those tools return structure. For a whole order with something to watch, the duck race puts each name on a duck and lists the finishing order. Want your own wheel for a lesson or a party? See how to make a spin wheel.

Ideas for lists that are not people

Names are only the beginning: this is a random list picker for anything that fits on a line. A reading group can list the books on its shelf and pick the next one. A family can list ten dinners and pick Tuesday's. A writer can list scenes to revise, and a coach can list drills and pick the warm-up. Whatever fits on a line fits in the box, and the pick works the same way.

Short entries read best on screen. Aim for a word or two, and keep any extra detail out of the line so the result stays large and clear. If an item needs a note, put the note in your own file and keep only the label here.

Lists with a clear winner in mind do not need a picker. Use it when you honestly have no preference and want the choice settled quickly, and when you would be happy with any of the options on it. If one of them would disappoint you, delete it before you press the button.