Random Name Picker
Paste a roster, choose how many people to pick, and draw without repeats. Keep track of every round for classroom participation, speaking turns, or casual group activities.
A turn for everyone
The wheel reveals the first pick. A multiple-name draw appears in full below.
Ready for the next name?
One person per line. Up to 500 unique names.
- Unique names
- 8
- Eligible now
- 8
- Total picks
- 0
1–100, up to the eligible count.
Keep people out of later draws in this round. Each batch always has distinct people.
Editing the roster or changing the removal rule starts a new round and clears its history.
Draw history
Your picks will appear here, grouped by draw.
Names and history stay in this page. Refreshing clears the session; copy your history to keep it.
A name picker that keeps track of who has had a turn
This random name picker selects people from a roster instead of answering a yes or no question. Paste one name per line, set the number of people you need, and draw. Unlike a general custom wheel, it handles duplicate entries, multiple selections, and the remaining roster for you.
Remove picked names is on by default. Selected people stay in the original text box but leave the eligible pool, so they cannot be picked again in the same round. Restart the round to include everyone again. Turn removal off when people may take part in more than one draw; a person still appears at most once within each batch.
How the odds change when names are removed
With five distinct people and one person picked per draw, each remaining person has the following chance on the next draw. Removing a name changes the size of the eligible pool.
| Point in the round | Names remaining | Chance for each remaining person |
|---|---|---|
| Before the first draw | 5 | 1/5 = 20% |
| After one person is picked | 4 | 1/4 = 25% |
| After two people are picked | 3 | 1/3 ≈ 33.3% |
How to pick random names from a list
- 1Replace the sample roster with your own names, one person per line. Use a distinct label for people who share a name.
- 2Check the unique-name count. Empty lines are ignored and identical names are merged automatically.
- 3Choose 1–100 people, up to the number remaining. Leave removal on for turns without repeats.
- 4Select Pick names. Read the complete batch below the wheel; the wheel points to the first name in that batch.
- 5Draw again from the remaining roster, copy the draw history, or restart the round to restore everyone.
Prepare a roster people can recognize
A short check before drawing helps the selected result correspond to the person you intended.
Give namesakes different labels
Two lines reading “Alex” become one entry. Use “Alex R.” and “Alex T.”, or add a student number, to give two different people their own chance.
Check duplicates and eligibility
Leading and trailing spaces and blank lines are removed. Matching is case-sensitive: “Alex” and “alex” are different labels. Delete absent people before starting.
Keep one person on each line
Paste a single column from a spreadsheet. Commas and semicolons stay inside a name. The roster accepts 500 unique names, with up to 80 characters per name.
Choose a draw rule for your activity
Agree on whether people can be selected again before the first draw. Changing the roster or the removal rule starts a new round and clears its records.
Classroom participation
Keep removal on to give each person one turn before restarting. Edit out absent students first, then draw one or several participants.
Speaking and game turns
Draw several names for the next activity. Their displayed order is the selection order; copying history outputs one name per line in that same order.
Repeatable practice
Turn removal off if a person may participate in later draws again. Each batch still contains distinct people. Repeats across different draws are expected in this mode.
What the animation does, and where your roster goes
The draw uses the shared browser random-number helper: crypto.getRandomValues with rejection sampling. It selects distinct positions from the eligible roster before animating; the wheel is a visual reveal of the first pick.
Equal chances in the eligible pool
Each distinct eligible label has the same chance at each selection step. With n eligible people and k picks, each person has a k/n chance of being included in that batch.
Readable results for large lists
Above 16 eligible people the wheel shows roster numbers, with some numbers hidden to keep it readable. All eligible names remain in the draw, and the full selected names appear in the results.
A session in your browser
The picker does not upload your roster or draw history, save it to an account, or include names in its interaction events. Refreshing or leaving the page clears this session. Copy the history before leaving if you need it.
Random name picker questions
How do I pick a random name without repeats?
Enter one person per line and leave Remove picked names on. Each selected person leaves the eligible pool for later draws. Restart the round to include everyone again.
Can I pick multiple names at once?
Yes. Choose between 1 and 100 people per draw, up to the number currently eligible. Every batch contains distinct names, even when removal between draws is off.
What happens if two people have the same name?
Identical labels are merged after trimming surrounding spaces and normalizing Unicode text. Give different people distinct labels, such as a last initial or student number. Matching remains case-sensitive.
Does everyone have an equal chance?
Each distinct eligible name has the same chance at every selection step. Picking k people from n eligible names gives each person a k/n chance of appearing in the batch. Removed people have no chance until the round is restarted.
Can I paste a spreadsheet roster?
Yes. Copy a single column and paste it into the roster box. Each non-empty line becomes a name. Commas are not separators. You can enter up to 500 unique names, with up to 80 characters in each name.
Why does the wheel show only one of my multiple picks?
The wheel reveals the first name in the batch. The results area and draw history show the entire batch in selection order. With more than 16 eligible people, the wheel uses numbers to keep the display readable.
Are my names and results saved?
They stay in the current browser page and are not uploaded by the picker or saved to an account. Refreshing or leaving the page clears the session. Copy the history to keep a record; editing the roster, changing the removal rule, or restarting also clears the current round.