PlaySpinWheel

Wheel of names: let the wheel call the name

A wheel of names does one job perfectly: type your names, press SPIN, and the wheel picks one at a provably equal chance, one slice per name, no favorites possible. Use it as a random name picker for classrooms, giveaways, turn order, or any argument that needs ending, and share the replay link as the receipt: the same spin lands on the same winner for anyone who opens it.

OLIVIALIAMEMMANOAHAMELIAOLIVERMIATHEODORESOPHIAJAMESAVAHENRY🙋

Anything can win. That's the deal.

  • Olivia
  • Liam
  • Emma
  • Noah
  • Amelia
  • Oliver
  • Mia
  • Theodore
  • Sophia
  • James
  • Ava
  • Henry

How does the wheel of names work?

Add each name once and the wheel gives it an exactly equal slice: eight names means a one-in-eight chance each. When you press SPIN, the result comes from a seed drawn from your browser's cryptographic randomness (crypto.getRandomValues, the same generator that secures web encryption), and that seed is baked into the share link, so the exact spin can be replayed by anyone who doubts it. Call it a wheel of names, a name spinner, or a wheel of names spin wheel: the job and the fairness are identical.

Replace the sample names with your own: the × on a chip removes one, the box above adds more, up to 52 names, a full deck. Your list stays on your device, saved in the browser rather than on a server, so it's still there next time and never leaves your hands.

Can you rig a wheel of names?

People genuinely search for how to rig wheel of names draws, and on some spinner apps a host can quietly weight an entry or preset the result. Not here, by design: every slice is equal with no weighting option at all, the seed is drawn at the moment of the spin, and the replay link exposes the whole draw. If honest odds ever need adjusting, add a name twice, visibly, on the wheel where everyone can count the slices.

The full explanation of where the randomness comes from and how anyone can verify a spin lives on our fairness page. For prize draws where winners must leave the wheel with a receipt per round, the raffle wheel runs the same engine with remove-after-pick switched on.

What is a wheel of names good for?

Anywhere a group needs a name pulled without an argument. Classrooms spin on the projector so nobody can claim the teacher plays favorites; giveaways spin on a screen share and post the replay link as proof; game night uses it for turn order; offices use it for standup order and who-buys-coffee.

USE IT FORSETUPTHE TRICK
Classroom picksOne name per student, spin on the projectorRemove-after-pick means everyone reads once; teachers may prefer the dedicated student picker
Giveaway drawsOne name per entrantSpin live, then post the replay link as the public receipt
Turn orderEveryone playing tonightRemove-after-pick deals a full order, first to last
Office standupThe whole teamSpin daily; yesterday's winner presses the button today
Chores and errandsEveryone in the housePair it with the chore wheel when the job needs picking too

How do you pick more than one name?

Open Wheel settings and turn on "Remove the winner after each spin". The wheel then works like drawing names from a hat: the first spin picks the first winner and removes them, the second picks from whoever's left, and so on until the wheel is empty. That's the clean way to draw first, second, and third place, or a complete presentation order with zero arguing.

A wheel of names online spinner with nothing to install

This online spinner is a single fast page: no app, no signup, no premium tier hiding the useful settings, and it behaves on a phone at the bus stop exactly as it does on a classroom projector. Want the wheel on your own site? The free embeddable wheel drops in with one copy-paste snippet. And if you need names invented rather than picked, your students exist but your novel's characters don't yet, the random name generator supplies real names to spin.

Fair questions

Is the wheel of names actually random?
Yes. Every name gets an exactly equal slice, and the result comes from a cryptographic random seed generated when you press SPIN. The seed rides inside the share link, so anyone can replay the exact spin and confirm nothing was nudged.
Can you rig a wheel of names?
Some spinner apps let a host secretly weight entries; this one has no weighting at all, draws its seed at spin time, and hands out a replay link that exposes the whole draw. The only way to change the odds here is to add a name twice, in public, on the wheel.
Is the wheel of names free, with no signup?
Completely. Every feature, quick fills, remove-after-pick, replay links, themes, spin speeds, is free with no account, no watermark, and no premium tier. The names you type never leave your browser.
How many names can I add?
Up to 52, a full deck of cards. For a bigger group, run heats: split the names across two or three wheels, spin each, then spin a final wheel of the heat winners.
Are the names I type saved anywhere?
Only on your device and inside the link you share. The list lives in your browser's local storage and in the share URL itself. Nothing is sent to a server, and there's no account.
Can a name be removed once it's been picked?
Yes. Switch on "Remove the winner after each spin" in Wheel settings and each pick leaves the wheel automatically, so nobody is chosen twice.

Sources and references

Every spin here is decided by a cryptographic random seed drawn from a browser API defined by a public standard. The specification behind that fairness claim is below, so it can be checked rather than taken on trust.

The getRandomValues method generates cryptographically strong random values.

Source: W3C, Web Cryptography

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