Random Name Picker

A quick random name picker for names, menu ideas, chores, candidates, or any short list. Add weights with the name*number format when some items should have a higher chance.

Names or items / weights

First time? Open this guide

Enter one item per line.
To use weights, add *number after the name. Example: Alex*3
Higher weights increase the chance of being picked.

Omitted weights are treated as 1. Use the name*number format to avoid confusion.

Number to pick

Result

Waiting

No result yet.

Purpose

Choose one or more items from a list without saving the input on the server. It is useful for presenters, chores, menu choices, and simple meeting decisions.

How to use

Enter one name or item per line.
To use weights, add *number after the item, such as Alex*3.
Set how many results to pick.
Run the picker and check the result.
Copy or save the result if needed.

How the shuffle affects fairness

The most copied one-line shuffle on the internet hands a random comparator to a sort function. Sorting assumes comparisons are consistent, and a random comparison breaks that assumption, so items that started near the front or back tend to stay near certain positions.

This picker uses a Fisher-Yates shuffle instead. It walks the list from the back and only ever swaps within the part that has not been shuffled yet, which is mathematically guaranteed to produce every ordering with equal probability. No name becomes structurally more likely, however long the list is.

When you actually want weights

Equal odds are not the only kind of fair. Giving someone who entered three times triple the chance, or lowering the odds for whoever did the chore last week, is fair as long as the rule is published. Add an asterisk and a number after a name to do it.

What matters is that the real odds match what you set. The probability preview shows the actual chance for each entry, so you can publish the rule to participants before drawing. Explaining a weight after the result is known reads as a justification, however reasonable it is.

Drawing several winners

Within a single draw, the same entry is never picked twice. If you typed the same name twice, though, those count as two separate entries and its odds double accordingly. To limit people to one chance each, clean the list first.

Running multiple rounds? Remove already-drawn names before the next one. Copying the result or generating a share link lets you hand the cleaned-up list to the next round or the next organiser as a single URL.

The same name coming up again is normal

With ten entries, the same name twice in a row happens ten percent of the time and three times in a row happens once in a hundred draws. That is far too common to count as evidence of anything.

Randomness clusters rather than spreading evenly. A sequence where everyone takes a neat turn is the artificial-looking one. If you need rotation, do not rely on randomness for it: remove drawn names from the list instead.

Nothing you type is stored

Entering names and drawing from them happens entirely inside your browser. No input is sent to a server, so internal staff lists and student names leave no record anywhere.

A share link encodes the list in the URL itself. Whoever opens it can redraw from the same list without a server being involved, and if you never share the link, it never goes anywhere.

Examples

Pick two presenters for a class
Choose a lunch menu
Run a weighted chore draw
Pick a few people to speak first

Notes

Do not enter unnecessary personal or sensitive information.
Duplicate names are treated as separate entries.
For high-stakes decisions, agree on the rules before using any random tool.

FAQ

Can I separate items with commas?

Yes. The tool accepts line breaks and commas as separators.

How do weights work?

Use the item*number format. Alex*3 gives Alex three times the basic weight.