Random Name Picker

What this tool does

The Random Name Picker chooses one name at random from a list you paste in. Type or paste names one per line, press Pick a name, and the winner appears in large type. It is the digital version of pulling a name out of a hat, but provably fair: selection uses crypto.getRandomValues, the browser’s secure random generator, with rejection sampling so every name has an identical chance.

You can pick in two modes. Allow repeats keeps every name in the pool, so the same person can be drawn again — handy for picking a random speaker each meeting. No repeats removes each name once it is drawn, so everyone gets picked exactly once before any name repeats. A running history records every pick in order, and you can copy that history with one click.

Use cases

A name picker is useful any time you need an impartial choice. Teachers use it to call on students fairly without unconscious bias. Meeting facilitators use it to choose who presents, who takes notes, or who goes first. It runs giveaways and raffle draws, picks a random reviewer for a pull request, decides who buys the coffee, or selects a winner from contest entrants. No-repeats mode is perfect for drawing an ordered list of prize winners, while allow-repeats mode suits recurring decisions where past picks should not rule anyone out.

How to use it

1. Paste your names into the text box, one name per line. The counter below shows how many valid names it found.
2. Choose a draw mode: allow repeats, or no repeats.
3. Click Pick a name. The winner appears prominently, and the pick is added to the history.
4. Click again for another pick. In no-repeats mode the pool shrinks each time; when it is empty, use Reset draw to put everyone back.
5. Use Copy history to grab the full list of picks, or Clear all to start fresh with a new list.

Switching draw mode resets the current draw so the two modes never get tangled together.

Privacy & your data

The names you enter never leave your browser. There is no account, no upload, and no server call — the random pick is computed locally in JavaScript. The list and the pick history are held only in memory for the current session and are not written to local storage or cookies. That means reloading or closing the tab erases everything. If you need to keep a record of the picks, copy the history before you leave the page.

Tips

For a fair classroom or meeting rotation, use no-repeats mode so everyone is chosen once before anyone repeats — then reset and go again for the next round. If you want a name to carry extra weight in a repeats-allowed draw, simply list it on more than one line; two lines doubles its odds, three lines triples them, and so on. Keep your list tidy: blank lines are ignored automatically, but stray spaces are trimmed, so Ava and Ava are treated as the same text. When running a public draw, the large winner display is easy to read on a projector or shared screen, and the numbered history gives you a transparent record everyone can check after the fact.

Because the tool never saves anything, it is a good idea to copy the history before closing the tab if the result matters — for a prize draw, for example, that copied list is your audit trail. If you run the same draw repeatedly, remember that each pick is independent: in repeats-allowed mode a run of the same name is unlucky but entirely possible, exactly as it would be pulling names from a hat. And if you ever doubt the fairness, the no-repeats mode makes it self-evident — once every name has been drawn the pool is empty, proving each name was selected exactly once.