75tools
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    Random name picker

    Paste the list of names, choose how many winners and draw.

    The result of the draw will show here, and in the timed history.

    A fair random name picker, with no sign-up

    To use this random name picker, paste the list of names into the box, one per line (a column copied from Excel or Google Sheets works as it is), choose how many winners, then click Draw: the names drawn appear in the order they came out and the time goes into the history. For example, drawing 3 winners from 10 names gives each person exactly a 3 in 10 chance. The Teams and Numbers tabs split the list into groups of the same size, give or take one person, or draw whole numbers between a minimum and a maximum, with or without repeats. The randomness comes from the browser's cryptographic generator and the list never leaves your device. The limit: the picker draws fairly but keeps no proof beyond your screen, so draw in public and copy the history if the result matters.

    How to use it

    Winners: paste the names, one per line (semicolons and tabs also separate them), enter the number of winners and draw. Several winners are listed in the order drawn, so the first can get the first prize. With Remove winners ticked, the names drawn leave the list and the next draw uses the others.

    Teams: the list is shuffled and dealt out in turn, like cards, so teams have the same size, give or take one person when the numbers do not divide evenly. Numbers: one or more whole numbers between a minimum and a maximum, both included, with or without repeats, for a raffle ticket, a page number or a hundred-sided die.

    Ways to use it

    At school, pick the pupil who answers next, set the order of presentations (draw as many winners as there are pupils: the order drawn is the running order) or form working groups. That suits teachers at international and bilingual schools as well as French state schools. For a social media giveaway, copy the list of entrants, draw live or record your screen, then post the history. At work, it sets the speaking order of a meeting, hands out tasks or forms buddy pairs.

    With friends or family, it decides who does the dishes, who chooses the film or how the football teams line up. For a more visual decision, the spin the wheel tool turns your choices on screen. To put a time limit on an answer, say one minute, start the online timer in another tab.

    Where the randomness comes from

    These draws do not use Math.random, the fast generator found in web pages, but crypto.getRandomValues, defined by the W3C Web Cryptography standard as the browser's source of cryptographic-quality random values. Turning a random number into a position in the list with a naive method (the remainder of a division) slightly favours the first names. Here, values that would create that bias are thrown away and drawn again, so every participant has exactly the same probability.

    The list is shuffled with the Fisher-Yates algorithm, which produces every possible order with the same probability. The winners are the first names of the shuffled list, which rules out drawing the same person twice in a single draw.

    Frequently asked questions

    Is the draw truly random, or could it be rigged?

    The randomness comes from the browser's cryptographic generator (crypto.getRandomValues), the same one used to create encryption keys. Every name has exactly the same chance: the method throws away values that would favour names at the top of the list. Neither 75tools nor anyone else sees your list or can influence the result, because everything happens on your device.

    The same name appears twice in my list, does that matter?

    A name written twice has two chances of being drawn, like two tickets in a hat. That is intended if someone has two entries. Otherwise tick Ignore duplicates: identical lines, regardless of capitals or extra spaces, then count once. The counter under the list shows how many participants will really be included, so you can check before you draw.

    Can a business in France run a prize draw with this picker?

    The picker draws fairly, but it does not replace the rules of the game. In France, article L121-20 of the code de la consommation (consumer code) only bans promotional lotteries when they are unfair. In practice the organiser publishes rules setting out the prizes, who may enter and how the draw works, often filed with a commissaire de justice (bailiff). Follow those rules to the letter.

    Can I run several draws in a row without removing winners by hand?

    Yes: tick Remove winners from the list. After each draw, the names drawn disappear from the text box and the next draw only uses those left. It is useful for a raffle with several prizes drawn one by one, from the smallest prize to the main one, or for sharing chores out over several weeks in a flatshare.

    With 25 pupils and 4 teams, where do the extra people go?

    The list is shuffled and then dealt out in turn, like cards. With 25 pupils and 4 teams, the first team gets 7 people and the other three get 6, so teams never differ by more than one person. Who lands in the larger team depends on the shuffle, in other words on chance. For pairs, enter half the number of participants as the number of teams.

    Sources

    More tools: time and random draws