🐾Wheel of Names👶 – Spin to Pick a Random Name

About this wheel of names

Type or paste the names, press Spin, and the wheel picks one at random. That is the whole idea of a wheel of names: a choice everyone can watch happen, so nobody can say it was rigged. Use it to choose who goes first, who presents next, who wins a free prize or whose turn it is to do the dishes.

Last updated October 5, 2026

New here? See how the wheel works: entries, odds, winners, sound and sharing.

How the wheel of names picks a name

The winner is chosen the moment you press Spin, using the random number generator built into your browser (the same Web Crypto source browsers use for security). The animation then slows down onto that name. Every name has the same share of the wheel and the same chance, so a list of 20 names gives each one a 1 in 20 chance on every spin.

Previous spins do not change the next one. A name that just won is exactly as likely to win again, which surprises people but is what fair means. If you want each person picked only once, remove the winner after each spin instead of hoping the wheel spreads things out by itself.

Getting your names onto the wheel quickly

The List tab takes one name per line. You can paste a whole column from Google Sheets, Excel or a class roster and every row becomes a slice. Blank lines are skipped, and the Remove duplicates button tidies a list where someone was entered twice. For long lists the wheel hides labels on very thin slices, but every name is still in the draw and the winner is always shown in full.

If you already keep the list in a file, use Import to load a .csv or .txt file. The first column is the name; optional extra columns set a weight, a color and a hidden task. Export saves the current list in the same format so you can reuse it next week.

Pictures, weights and hidden tasks

Open the Weights and colors tab to give a name a picture (a photo, an avatar or a team logo), its own color, or a higher weight. A weight of 2 gives that name twice the chance of a weight of 1, which is handy when a student earned an extra entry for finishing their reading log. Pictures stay in your browser and are never uploaded.

Each name can also hold a hidden task, for example "lead the warm-up" or "choose the music". It stays covered after the spin until someone presses Reveal, which adds a small moment of suspense in a classroom or at a party. Switch on "Read the result aloud" in Settings and the wheel says the name, and the task when it is revealed, out loud.

Saving, sharing and putting the wheel on a big screen

My wheels saves lists in your browser so a teacher can keep one wheel per class. Share creates a link that carries the names inside the link itself, so whoever opens it sees the same wheel without signing up. Full screen mode hides everything except the wheel, which works well on a projector, a smart board or a TV.

Running a giveaway or a draw where people need proof? Use Verified draw: it locks the list, waits for a public randomness round that nobody can predict, and gives you a receipt link anyone can check afterwards.

Wheel of names or random name picker?

Both do the same job. This page is set up for quick everyday spins with a short list. The Random Name Picker page has a longer guide to drawing names for bigger groups, and Pick Names Out of a Hat gives the same fair result without a spinning wheel, for when you want a calmer reveal.