Wheel Of Names

The classic. Names in, name out.

Add at least 2 options below to spin.

Edit options (0)

Your options (one per line)

Saved locally. Nothing is sent to a server.

How it works

Paste your list of names into the textarea, one per line.
Click Spin — wheel rotates 3-5 seconds and lands on a wedge.
Mode toggle: pure random or without-replacement.
Sound on/off, wheel speed adjustable.
Bookmark URL — list saves in the URL for re-use.

Why use this tool

The visual spin adds a 4-second ceremony that makes the result feel legitimate.
Cryptographically random — fair regardless of how the spin "looks."
Bookmark with your list of 10-15 names for repeat use (classroom, team, family).
Customisable visual — turn on or off sound, adjust spin speed.

When to use it

Classroom student picker (visual version).
Office Friday "who picks the music" rotation.
Family chore allocation.
Stream / podcast giveaway draws.
Tournament bracket draws.
Lottery / raffle winner selection.

When to use Wheel Of Names

Any recurring low-stakes decision you'd rather not spend a minute on.
Bike-shedding avoidance — hand small choices to the picker so you save decision-energy for the ones that matter.
Late-evening when your prefrontal cortex is done and you just need an answer.
When you specifically want randomness — not a "recommendation engine", not a ranking, just an unbiased pick.

How the picker works

Wheel Of Names runs entirely in your browser — no servers, no accounts, no data sent anywhere. Each pick uses your browser's built-in cryptographic random-number generator (window.crypto.getRandomValues), which is uniformly distributed across the option pool.

The pool for this picker: a curated shortlist. Every option has an equal probability of being selected on any given pick (about <1% per option).

Wheel-kind picks animate the spin visually but the outcome is determined at the moment of tap, then animated backward — the visual is theatre, the maths is instant.

If you want a deliberately weighted pick (favouring some options over others), the picker isn't the right tool — try structuring the choice as a wheel with duplicated entries, or split into two picks (category first, then item within category).

Related pickers + when to prefer each

Wheel Of Names is one of several related pickers on the site. The rest of this cluster covers adjacent decisions:

Random Name Picker — the closest neighbour when this picker isn't quite the right fit.

Spin Wheel — the closest neighbour when this picker isn't quite the right fit.

Student Name Wheel — the closest neighbour when this picker isn't quite the right fit.

All picks are independent — running one picker doesn't influence the others.

About this category

Lifestyle decisions are the low-stakes-but-recurring kind that eat mental bandwidth: coin flips, yes/no calls, morning routine choices, small habit-forming picks.

The category isn't about big life decisions — it's the friction remover for the dozens of tiny ones a normal week throws at you.

FAQ

How many names fit?

Up to 24 fit visually on the wheel. Larger lists fall back to a text-only pick.

Is it really random?

Yes — uses your browser’s built-in random. Statistically fair over time.

Maximum names?

~15 read clearly on the visual wheel. Above that, names overlap on the wedges; switch to a plain picker which paginates.

Can I save the wheel?

Yes — bookmark the URL after pasting names. Names encode in the URL and persist.

Is the spin really random?

Yes — cryptographically secure. The visual rotation is computed after the pick; the result is real random regardless of how the spin appears.