Random Name Picker
Paste a class list and pick names fairly at random — with a no-repeats memory, so everyone gets a turn before anyone is picked twice. Your list never leaves the tab.
Pick a name, fairly
Paste the list, choose the settings, and press Pick.
Fair, and seen to be fair
A shuffle nobody can argue with.
A real shuffle
Names are Fisher-Yates shuffled before every pick — the same algorithm used wherever fairness matters, not a “random-ish” sort.
Pick one or several
One name for the next question, five for a working group — set it once and keep pressing Pick.
A session record
Every pick is kept in order, so at the end of the lesson you have the full list of who was chosen — copy it straight into your notes.
About this random name picker
Asking for a volunteer the fair way is harder than it sounds. The same hands shoot up, the same quiet pupils sink lower, and any pattern a teacher falls into — alphabetical, seating plan, “you have not had a turn in a while” — is visible to the whole class within a week. A random name picker removes the judgement call entirely: paste the list, press the button, and the name that appears is the name that answers. Nobody was picked on, nobody was favoured, and nobody can argue with a shuffle.
The feature that makes this picker a classroom tool rather than a raffle toy is the no-repeats memory. Left on (it is on by default), the picker tracks who has already been chosen and quietly removes them from the pool, so across a lesson every pupil is picked before anyone is picked twice. The counters under the button always show where you stand: how many names are in the list, how many are still to be picked, and how many have been chosen so far. Editing the list mid-lesson is safe — names you add join the pool, names you remove drop out of it.
It is not only for classrooms. The same fairness serves raffle draws, rota building, choosing who presents first, Secret Santa draws among colleagues, and any “we need a volunteer” moment where being seen to be fair matters as much as being fair. Need teams instead of individuals? The Random Group Generator splits the same kind of list into balanced groups in one go.
Your list is handled the way class lists should be: it exists only inside this browser tab. Nothing is uploaded to a server, nothing is saved, and no account watches over it — refresh the page and the list is gone. That is a deliberate design decision for a tool whose whole job involves children’s names.
Frequently asked questions
Fairness, repeats, privacy and raffles — answered plainly.
How fair is the picking, really?
Each pick shuffles the remaining names with a Fisher-Yates shuffle, which gives every name an equal probability of coming first. It is the standard unbiased shuffle — not a sorted list with a random starting point.
What does “No repeats” do exactly?
Picked names are removed from the pool until you press Reset, so every name is chosen once before any name can be chosen again. Turn it off for raffle-style draws where the same name may legitimately win twice.
Can I pick more than one name at a time?
Yes — set “Names to pick each time” to 2, 3 or 5. With no-repeats on, a multi-pick simply draws that many names from the remaining pool.
What happens if I edit the list mid-session?
The pool updates to match: added names become pickable, removed names drop out, and the picked-so-far record keeps only what the session actually drew. Duplicated lines count once.
Are the names stored anywhere?
No. The list lives in the page, in your browser, for as long as the tab is open. Nothing is uploaded or saved — closing the tab deletes it.
Can I use it for a raffle or giveaway?
Yes, it works the same way with any list. For a public draw, consider picking with repeats off and copying the session record as your evidence of who was drawn, in order.