Random Name Picker
One name per line, then spin. The winner is drawn from your browser’s random number generator, not from wherever the wheel happens to stop.
How it works
The winner is drawn first, and the wheel is then aimed at them. Doing it the other way round — spin, and whoever the pointer lands on wins — sounds more natural but makes the result a function of the browser’s easing curve and its floating-point rounding, which is to say a function of the device it ran on.
The numbers come from crypto.getRandomValues, not Math.random. Math.random is a clock-seeded pseudo-random generator: the output looks fine and is predictable to anyone who knows roughly when it ran. For a draw everyone in the room is meant to accept, that difference is worth the extra line of code.
Every name takes one share of the wheel. Ending a line with “*3” gives that name three shares, and three times the chance. Slice angles are cut in proportion to the shares, so the picture and the probability never disagree — a slice that looks twice as wide really is twice as likely.
The draw uses rejection sampling: a 32-bit random word that falls in the remainder above the last whole multiple of the total is thrown away and redrawn. Taking the remainder directly is the obvious version, and it quietly favours the names at the top of the list — a tiny bias, sitting exactly where people suspect one.
After a spin, “Take off the wheel” removes the winner from the list. That turns the sequence into drawing without replacement, which is what you want when picking several people in turn and nobody should come up twice.
The list is not stored anywhere. It lives in the text box and in whatever link you copy yourself — open that link on another device and the list is there; reload without it and the page is back to its default names.
Formula
chance of a name = its shares ÷ total shares • slice angle = chance × 360°
With no weights written, every name holds exactly one share, so the chance is one divided by the number of names.
Worked example
Eight names, one of them written “Minh *3”:
- Total shares
- 7 × 1 + 3 = 10 shares
- Chance for Minh
- 3 / 10 = 30%
- Chance for each of the rest
- 1 / 10 = 10%
- Minh’s slice
- 30% × 360° = 108°
That slice is 108° wide against 36° for everyone else — three times the arc, three times the chance. Nobody has to read the numbers to see who has the advantage.
Frequently asked questions
Is this wheel actually random?
As random as a browser can be: the draw comes from crypto.getRandomValues, the same source cryptography uses, with rejection sampling so no part of the list is favoured. Nothing is weighted unless you weight it, and the result does not depend on where the picture stops.
Is the winner decided before or after the spin?
Before. The winner is drawn the moment you press spin, and the rotation is then calculated to stop on that slice. The result is therefore the same on a fast device and a slow one, and identical if you have animations turned off.
How do I give one name a better chance?
End the line with an asterisk and a number, like “Minh *3”. Writing the name three times gives the same odds, but the wheel then shows three separate slices instead of one wide one.
Can the same name win twice in a row?
Yes, unless you press “Take off the wheel” between spins. Each spin is independent, so a repeat is ordinary probability rather than a fault — with eight names it happens about one spin in eight.
How many names can it hold?
Up to 500. Past 60 the slice labels are dropped because no font size is still readable at that width, but the wheel keeps working and the winner is spelled out in full underneath it.
Is my list saved anywhere?
No. The page is static HTML: nothing is sent to a server and nothing is written to browser storage. Copying the share link is the only way to keep a list, and then the list is in the link itself.
How do I share a list with someone else?
Press “Copy link” and send it. They will open the same list and can spin it immediately, but the two spins are independent draws — the link carries the names, not the outcome.
Can I use this for a prize draw?
Yes, as long as everyone can see the list before the spin. The weak point of any tool like this is not the arithmetic but who controls the entries — so share the link first, then spin.