About the Random Name Picker
The random name picker draws a fair winner from any list you paste in. Put one name per line (or separate them with commas), choose how many winners you need and the tool picks them at random — no spreadsheet formulas, no names in a hat. It works for social-media giveaways, office raffles, choosing a student to answer, deciding who presents first or picking a restaurant from the group chat.
When you draw several winners, each name can win only once and the results are listed in draw order, so you can use the first as the grand-prize winner and the rest as runners-up or alternates. Duplicate entries are removed by default (case-insensitive) so nobody gets extra chances by being listed twice; switch that off if extra entries are intentional, such as bonus raffle tickets.
Draws use cryptographically secure randomness from your browser and nothing is uploaded. For public giveaways you can type a seed — for example the date and prize name — so anyone can repeat the draw with the same list and confirm the result.
How to use the random name picker
- 1Paste your names or options, one per line or separated by commas.
- 2Set how many winners you want to draw.
- 3Leave “Remove duplicate names” on so each person gets one chance.
- 4Read the winner — for several winners, use the draw order for prize ranking.
- 5Change any input to draw again, or add a seed to make the draw verifiable.
Formula and method
The list is cleaned (blank lines dropped and, optionally, case-insensitive duplicates removed) and then shuffled with the Fisher–Yates algorithm, which gives every possible order exactly the same probability. The first k names of the shuffled list are the winners, in draw order.
Because every order is equally likely, each of the n entries has a k ÷ n chance of being among the winners and a 1 ÷ n chance of being drawn first. Winners are drawn without replacement, so the same name cannot win twice unless it appears twice and duplicate removal is switched off.
- n
- Number of entries after cleaning
- k
- Number of winners drawn
Worked examples
Pick one student from a class of 8
Eight names are in the list and one is drawn, so each student has a 1 ÷ 8 = 12.5% chance of being picked.
Giveaway: 3 winners from 10 entrants with a duplicate
Amy entered twice, so the duplicate is removed, leaving 10 unique entrants. Drawing 3 winners gives each person a 3 ÷ 10 = 30% chance, and the draw order can decide 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize.
More winners than names
Only three options exist, so asking for five winners simply puts all three in a random order — a quick way to set a running order.
Frequently asked questions
How do I pick a random winner for a giveaway?+
Export or copy the entrants’ names (for example from comments), paste them one per line, set the number of winners and read the result. Keep duplicate removal on so each person has one entry.
Is the random name picker fair?+
Yes. The list is shuffled with the Fisher–Yates algorithm using cryptographically secure random numbers, so every name has exactly the same chance and every draw order is equally likely.
Can the same name be picked twice?+
Not when drawing several winners: names are drawn without replacement. A name only appears twice if it is listed twice and you turn off duplicate removal, which is how extra raffle tickets work.
How can I prove my giveaway draw was random?+
Announce a seed in advance, such as the prize name and draw date, then publish the entry list. Anyone who pastes the same list and seed here gets the identical winner.
Can I give some people extra entries?+
Yes. Switch off “Remove duplicate names” and list a person once per entry. Someone listed three times in a list of 30 lines has a 3 ÷ 30 = 10% chance of being drawn first.
What is the difference between this and spin the wheel?+
Both pick at random with the same odds. The wheel shows options as segments and supports weights, while the name picker is faster for long lists and drawing many winners at once.