RandomBasis

Gift exchange draw

Secret Santa Generator

Paste your names and draw assignments - nobody gets themselves, nobody just swaps.

Runs locally in your browser. No email addresses, nothing stored anywhere.

Everyone taking part - one name per line

Send each person their own line only - the full list gives away every pairing.

About this Secret Santa generator

Paste the names of everyone taking part and press Draw. Each person is assigned someone else to buy a present for, nobody draws their own name, and the whole thing happens in your browser - no email addresses, no sign-up, nothing stored anywhere.

Why nobody can draw themselves

Shuffling names and pairing them up will sooner or later give somebody their own name, and the usual fix is to redraw until that stops happening. This tool takes a different route: it arranges everyone into a single circle and each person gives to the next one along. Drawing yourself is then impossible by construction rather than avoided by luck.

No two-person swaps

The circle has a second benefit that most generators miss. If assignments are made pair by pair, two people often end up simply buying for each other, which takes the surprise out of it for both. In one circle that cannot happen - the chain runs through everyone before it comes back round.

Sharing the results

Copy All puts every assignment on your clipboard so an organiser can message each person their own line. Be careful with the full list: anyone who sees it knows every pairing, which is the one way these draws usually get spoiled. If you are taking part yourself, ask someone outside the group to run the draw.

Common uses

How the randomness works

The names are shuffled with a Fisher-Yates shuffle using your browser's cryptographic random source, then joined into a circle. Every possible circular arrangement is equally likely, so no name is favoured and running the draw again gives a genuinely different result.

How does the Secret Santa draw work?

Paste everyone's names, one per line, and press Draw. Each person is assigned someone else to buy for, and nobody ever draws their own name.

Can someone draw themselves?

No. The draw arranges everyone into a single circle where each person gives to the next, which makes drawing yourself impossible rather than merely unlikely.

Will two people be paired with each other?

No. Because everyone sits in one circle, you never get the situation where two people simply swap and the rest of the group is left out of it.

How many people do I need?

At least three. With two people the only possible result is that they buy for each other, which is not a secret.

How do I share the results privately?

Copy All puts the whole list on your clipboard so an organiser can send each person their own line. Anyone reading the full list will see every assignment, so send them individually.

Is the draw actually random?

Yes. The circle order is set by a Fisher-Yates shuffle driven by your browser's cryptographic random source, so every valid arrangement is equally likely.