Secret Santa Generator

Draw names for a Secret Santa or gift exchange with the rules a real one needs — nobody draws themselves, couples don’t draw each other, and no one has to sit out of their own draw. Then print folded no-peek slips with the budget and date on them. Runs entirely in your browser.

Why the rules are the whole game

Shuffling names is easy; a hat does it. What breaks gift exchanges is everything the shuffle doesn’t know: someone draws themselves and quietly re-picks, a married couple draws each other and the surprise collapses, two coworkers swap and turn the exchange into a trade. A correct draw is a constraint problem, and this tool treats it as one — every rule you set is honored in both directions, on every draw.

Just as important, the tool knows when your rules can’t be satisfied. Exclude one person from everyone and it tells you who the problem is; build a web of rules with no valid arrangement left and it says so instead of silently dropping one. You never have to wonder whether a rule actually held.

Running a draw when you’re in it

The organizer’s dilemma: run the draw and you see everyone else’s assignments, including your own. Here, the results stay hidden on screen — you see that the draw succeeded, not who got whom. Print the slips, take your own, and your surprise is intact. (A reveal button exists for organizers who are sitting the exchange out and just want the list.)

The no-peek slips

Each slip folds in half. The outside shows the event name and whose slip it is; the inside — printed upside down, so it reads upright when unfolded — shows who they’re gifting.
The details travel with the slip. Budget and exchange date print on every one, which heads off the two questions every organizer answers eleven times.
Cut, fold, hand out. Dashed lines mark the cuts, a dotted line marks the fold. Works for the office, the family group chat that meets at Thanksgiving, and the classroom.

Setting up a draw that works

Add exclusions before drawing, not after. A re-draw because a rule was missing means re-printing every slip — the assignments all change together.
Use no-swaps for small groups. With four or five people, plain draws often produce pairs who have each other. The no-swaps rule keeps the chain interesting.
Hand out a questionnaire with the slips. A draw settles who buys for whom; it says nothing about what they want. The Secret Santa Questionnaire prints one page per person — sizes, favorites, and allergies — so a giver has something to go on besides a guess.
Keep the group list for next year. The setup is saved in your browser, so next December it’s one click and a fresh draw — add a rule for whoever drew each other this year.

Questions

How does the draw work?

Type one name per line, add any rules, and press Draw names. Everyone is assigned someone to gift — never themselves, never anyone they're excluded from — and the assignments stay hidden on screen so you can run the draw even when you're in it.

How do people find out who they drew?

Print the no-peek slips. Each slip folds in half: the person's own name shows on the outside, and who they're gifting is printed inside — upside down, so it reads upright once unfolded. Hand them out or leave them on desks; nobody sees anyone else's.

Can I stop couples from drawing each other?

Yes — that's the point of the rules. Add a can't-draw-each-other rule for any pair (couples, siblings, last year's matches) and the draw respects it in both directions. There's also a no-swaps option so no two people ever end up with each other.

What if my rules make a draw impossible?

The tool tells you, plainly, instead of hanging or quietly breaking a rule. If someone has been excluded from everyone, it names them; if the combination of rules rules out every arrangement, it says so and suggests what to loosen.

Can I put the budget and date on the slips?

Yes. The event name, budget, and exchange date fields all print on every slip, so the details travel with the assignment.

Does my group list get sent anywhere?

No. The draw runs entirely in your browser and there is no server behind it. Your list, rules, and event details are saved in your own browser so they're there next time — the result of a draw is never stored, and nothing is transmitted.

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.

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