Guide · Step by step
Pick a Random Name From a List
Updated: June 2026
You've got a list — students, entrants, team-mates, customers — and you need to pull one name from it fairly. No spreadsheet formula, no scribbling on paper, no "eeny meeny". This is the plain how-to: paste, press, done. It also covers the few options worth knowing so a one-off pick turns into a tool you can use for shortlists, rounds and draws.
Free · No upload · Instant in the browser
The three-step version
It really is just three steps:
- Paste your list into the box, one name per line.
- Leave the count at one (it already is).
- Press Pick. One name appears in large type — that's your pick.
Every name has an identical chance, so with a list of forty you get a flat 1 ÷ 40 each. Press Pick again for a fresh, independent draw. That's the whole job; everything below is optional polish.
Pasting from anywhere
The box reads plain lines, so almost any source works. Copy a column out of Excel or Google Sheets and paste it — each cell lands on its own line. Paste from a Word document, a chat export, a text file or an email and it behaves the same way. Trailing spaces are trimmed automatically and empty lines are skipped, so you don't have to clean up a messy copy first. The live counter under the box shows how many names it detected, which is the quickest way to confirm nothing got mashed together.
Does the order matter? No.
A common worry is that names near the top — or the bottom — are somehow favoured. They aren't. The pick is uniform across the whole list, so sorting alphabetically, reversing the order, or pasting in whatever sequence the source gave you makes zero difference to anyone's odds. If you sort the list with the A–Z button, that's purely for your own readability.
Beyond a single pick
Once you've drawn one name, the same box does more. A few common variations:
| You want | Do this |
|---|---|
| Pick without repeats | Turn on "Remove winner from list" |
| Several names at once | Set the count, keep No repeats on |
| Give one name better odds | End its line with *N |
| A fair running order | Switch to Shuffle order |
That last one is handy when "pick a name" really means "decide who goes first, second, third" — shuffle returns the whole list in a random sequence in one press.
Nothing leaves your device
The list you paste — which might be real people's names — stays in your browser. The pick is computed locally and nothing is uploaded, logged or kept after you close the tab. There's no account to create and no cookie trail. Once the page has loaded it even works offline, so a dropped connection won't stop you mid-draw.
Frequently asked questions
How do I pick a random name from a list?
Paste the list one name per line and press Pick. One name is chosen at random with an equal chance for every entry.
Does the order of the list matter?
No. Every name has the same chance wherever it sits, so sorting or reordering doesn't change the odds.
Can I paste from a spreadsheet?
Yes. Copy a column and paste it in — each line becomes one entry, with spare spaces trimmed and blanks ignored.
Can I pick more than one name?
Yes. Set the count higher and keep No repeats on to pull several distinct names in one draw.