Name Wheel

How the draw actually works

The spinning is theatre. The winner is chosen first, then the wheel is rotated so that it finishes under the pointer. This is how nearly every wheel works, and it is worth saying plainly rather than implying the physics decides anything.

What matters is the choice itself. We use the browser's cryptographic random number generator rather than the ordinary one, and we discard values from the top of the range before taking a remainder. That second step matters more than it sounds: taking a remainder directly from a 32-bit number biases the result toward lower entries, very slightly, every single time. For a party game nobody would notice. For anything where people care about the outcome, it is the difference between fair and nearly fair.

Weighted entries

Add *3 after a name and it gets three slots. The segment on the wheel becomes three times as wide and the odds change to match, so what you see and what happens agree.

This is the feature to reach for whenever entries are not equal: a raffle where people hold different numbers of tickets, a chore rota where someone owes an extra turn, a prize draw with bonus entries for something. Without weighting you would have to paste a name three times, which works but makes the list harder to read and easier to get wrong.

What people use a name wheel for

Classrooms

Cold-calling by wheel removes the awkwardness of choosing. Leave the removal option on and the wheel works through the class without repeating anyone, which is both fairer and visibly fairer, and children notice the difference.

Prize draws and giveaways

The wheel is the part people want to watch. Keep removal on when there are several prizes so the same person cannot win twice, and copy the results list afterwards as your record.

Deciding between options

Where to eat, which film, who goes first. The value here is not the randomness but the finality: a decision made by wheel stops the discussion, which is usually what everyone wanted.

Standups and rotas

Drawing the speaking order at the start of a meeting takes ten seconds and stops the same person always going first. Save the team as a list and it is one click next time.

Getting the most out of it

• Save your regular lists. A class, a team, a household. They stay in this browser and load in one click.
• Leave removal on for anything sequential — an order, a rota, multiple prizes.
• Turn removal off for repeated independent picks, where every draw should be from the full list.
• Use the results list as your record. It builds up as you spin and copies out in order.
• Shorten long names. Segments only fit so much text, and first names read better on a wheel than full ones.

Privacy

Everything here runs in your browser. The names you paste are never sent anywhere, and saved lists live in your device's local storage, which we cannot read. Clearing your browser data removes them. There is no account and nothing to sign up for.

This matters more than it might seem for classroom use, where the list is often real children's names. Those names never leave the device.

Related tools

To split the same list into groups rather than pick one winner, use the Team Splitter. For inventing names rather than choosing between them, try the Random Name Generator.

Common questions

Is the wheel actually random?

Yes, and more carefully than most. The winner is drawn using your browser’s cryptographic random number generator, with the tail of the range discarded so no entry is even slightly favoured by the arithmetic. The spin animation is decoration: the result is decided before the wheel starts moving, then the wheel is rotated so it lands there.

How do I make one name more likely?

Add an asterisk and a number after it. Priya *3 gives Priya three slots instead of one, so she is three times as likely to win and her segment is three times as wide. Useful for raffles where people hold different numbers of tickets.

Can I stop the same name winning twice?

That is on by default. After each spin the winner is removed from the list, which is what you want for drawing an order, picking teams one at a time, or running a raffle with several prizes. Switch it off if you want every spin drawn from the full list.

Are my lists saved anywhere?

Only in your own browser. Saved lists use local storage on your device, so they survive closing the tab but never reach us. Nothing you type is uploaded, and there is no account.

How many names can it handle?

Up to 500 entries. Past about 60 the labels stop fitting on the segments and get shortened, though the draw itself stays exact. For very long lists the results panel underneath is easier to read than the wheel.

Can I use this for a real prize draw?

For informal draws, yes. For anything with legal or regulatory weight — a promotion with rules, a public raffle, anything requiring an audit trail — use a method you can document and verify. This tool keeps no record of what it drew beyond the results list on your screen.