A random name picker draws one or several names from a list without favoring anyone. Paste your list, say how many winners and how many alternates you want, and draw. The draw runs in your browser with the same cryptographic generator used for encryption, and the names are sent nowhere. It is built for the small draws of everyday life: a prize among the people who filled in a form, a raffle among colleagues, a student to answer first.
How do you use the random name picker?
- Paste the names, one per line or separated by commas. Duplicates are removed, whatever their capitalization: "Ana" and "ana" count once. The counter under the field shows how many names are in play.
- Choose the number of winners, and the number of alternates if you want a reserve list for a winner who never answers.
- Or check "shuffle the whole list" to get a random order instead of winners: a speaking order, a presentation order, who brings breakfast each week.
- Draw. Winners come first, alternates under them, all numbered. Copy the result or draw again.
Two names minimum. Winners plus alternates cannot exceed the number of names, and the picker says so rather than drawing someone twice.
How does the random picker choose?
Every name has exactly the same chance: with 20 names and one winner, each has a 5% chance, and no position in the list is favored. The picker shuffles the list with a Fisher–Yates shuffle, the standard algorithm for an unbiased permutation, and takes the first names off the shuffled list. The random numbers come from crypto.getRandomValues, the browser's cryptographic generator, not from the approximate generator most quick online pickers use.
Winners are distinct. A name drawn as a winner cannot come back as an alternate, and an alternate is drawn from the names that have not won. Draw again and you get a fresh, independent draw; nothing about the previous one is kept.
What is a random name picker for?
The list picker is the right tool whenever the entrants are already written down somewhere:
- A form or a spreadsheet: the people who signed up for an event, answered a survey, or entered a giveaway on your website. Export the names, paste, draw.
- An office or a class: who presents first, who gets the last seat at the conference, which student answers.
- A physical event: the names on a sign-up sheet at a trade show or a store opening.
- A random order: shuffle mode gives the running order of a tournament or the rotation of a chore.
For a draw where each person holds a different number of tickets, the raffle generator weights the draw accordingly. For a draw the whole room wants to watch, the name picker wheel shows it.
When do you need a comment picker instead?
When the entrants are the people who commented on a post, a list of names is not enough: you need every comment, without duplicates, and proof that the draw was random. For a TikTok or YouTube video, paste the comments into the TikTok comment picker or its YouTube counterpart. For an Instagram or Facebook giveaway, the Lukky app connects through the official Meta authorization, reads the comments itself, removes duplicates and excluded accounts, draws at random and issues a public certificate your entrants can check. It has run more than 2.5 million draws that way.
FAQ
- Is the random name picker really random?
- Yes. Every name has the same probability, the list is shuffled with a Fisher–Yates shuffle, and the random numbers come from the browser's cryptographic generator, the one used for encryption rather than the approximate one used for animations.
- Can the same person win twice?
- No. Winners and alternates are drawn without replacement, so each name appears at most once in a result. If you ask for more winners than names, the picker refuses instead of repeating someone.
- What are alternates for?
- They are a reserve list, drawn in order, for a winner who does not answer or turns out to be ineligible. Announcing that you will draw alternates, and how long a winner has to reply, avoids drawing a second time in public.
- Are the names sent to a server?
- No. The list and the draw stay in your browser; nothing is uploaded, and closing the page erases everything. Copy the result if you need to keep it.
- Can I draw from the comments on a post?
- Not with this tool: it draws from a list you paste. For TikTok or YouTube, use the comment pickers. For Instagram and Facebook, the Lukky app reads the comments itself and certifies the draw.
Running an Instagram or Facebook giveaway?
Lukky draws the winner from the comments and issues a certificate your entrants can verify. Free on iOS and Android.
Updated on August 28, 2026