Names in a Hat
Put the names in, pull a slip out. The hat fills with folded slips, and each draw brings one up and unfolds it. Drawn slips stay out, so you can work through everyone without repeats — and it’s big enough to run from the front of a room.
Why a hat and not a spinner
“We’ll draw names out of a hat” is a sentence everyone understands, and the reason it survives is that the fairness is visible. Everybody watched the slips go in. Nobody touched them after. The hat did the deciding, and there is nothing to argue with.
An online version only keeps that if it keeps the picture. This one draws the hat properly, fills it with folded slips, and pulls one up to unfold in front of the room — so the moment still lands the way it does with a real hat, and the whole room can see what happened from the back row.
The slip stays out
A slip you pull out of a hat doesn’t go back in. That matters more than it sounds: it’s the difference between working through a room one person at a time and calling the same person twice while three others never come up at all. Here the hat empties as you draw, and the count under it tells you how many are left.
When you do want a name to be able to repeat — a warm-up question drawn fresh each time, say — turn on put each slip back and every draw picks from everyone again.
Using it in front of a room
- Second screen keeps the list private. The projector window shows only the hat and the name that came out. Your roster, your settings, and how many are left stay on the laptop.
- Full screen is the quick version when you’re on one display and just want the hat to fill it.
- The list is remembered. Type a team or class once and it’s there tomorrow, in that browser.
Other ways people use it
- Cold-calling without picking favorites. The hat chooses, which takes the sting out of being called on.
- Drawing for a gift exchange. If that’s what you’re here for, the Secret Santa Generator does the whole thing properly — it keeps couples from drawing each other and prints no-peek slips.
- Deciding order. Presentation order, chore order, who goes first — draw the whole list and the order is the order they came out.
Questions
How does it work?
Type one name per line and the hat fills with folded slips. Press Draw a name and a slip comes up out of the hat and unfolds to show who it is.
Can the same name come up twice?
Not by default. A slip you pull out of a real hat stays out, so drawn names stay out here too and the hat empties as you go — that's what makes it good for working through a whole class or team. If you'd rather every draw pick from everyone, turn on 'put each slip back'.
Can the room see it?
Yes. Full screen fills the display, and Second screen opens a bare window you drag to the projector — the names list and settings stay on your laptop while the room only sees the hat and the slip.
Is it actually random?
Every draw picks uniformly from the slips still in the hat, using the browser's own random number generator. Nothing is weighted, and no name is favored by where it sits in your list.
Do the names get sent anywhere?
No. The draw runs entirely in your browser and there is no server behind it. Your list is saved on your own device so it's there next time, and clearing site data removes it.
What would make this tool better? A device that's missing, a detail that looks wrong, an option you went looking for and didn't find — all of it is useful. Send a note.
More in Classroom & Event Screens
See the collection- Random Name PickerSpin a wheel that won't repeat until everyone's had a turn
- Random Group GeneratorPaste a roster, get balanced groups in a click
- Full-Screen Countdown TimerA big, accurate countdown that won't drift in a background tab
- Raffle & Giveaway Winner PickerDraw one winner or several, with a proper reveal
- Yes or No WheelSpin the wheel, let it decide
- Random Partner GeneratorPair up a roster — with a plan for the odd one out
- Chore WheelSpin the wheel, take the chore it lands on
- Secret Santa GeneratorDraw names with the rules a real exchange needs, then print no-peek slips
Also coming to this collection: Full-Screen Countdown Clock, Full-Screen Stopwatch.
Related reading
- How to Pick a Name Out of a Hat, OnlineThe hat, without the hat: paste the names, draw one, and let the room watch. A browser stand-in for pulling a name out of a hat, with a proper reveal.
- What's the Fairest Way to Pick a Student at Random?Drawing from the whole class every time is genuinely random, but it isn't what feels fair to a class. Why a shuffled queue is usually what you actually want.
- How Does a No-Repeat Name Picker Work?A no-repeat picker draws each name once and only starts again when the whole list has had a turn. Here is what that does differently from drawing at random every time.