Secret Santa Generator

Draw Secret Santa names online

This secret santa generator draws names for a gift exchange in one click. Enter everyone’s name, keep couples or housemates apart if you like, and press Draw names. Nobody draws themselves. Each match starts hidden, so people can reveal only their own. It works for offices, families, classrooms and friend groups, and it runs entirely in your browser.

How to use the secret santa generator

1. Type or paste names into the box, one per line. You need at least three.
2. Optional: under Keep apart, add pairs who should not draw each other, one pair per line, like “Chloe, Daniel”.
3. Optional: add a Note for everyone, such as “Budget $25, exchange on Dec 20”.
4. Press Draw names.
5. Each line reads, for example, “Ava gives a gift to” followed by a hidden name and a Reveal button.

How the matching works

One chain, nobody draws themselves

The generator shuffles the names and links them into a single loop. The first person gives to the second, the second to the third, and the last person gives back to the first. Because everyone sits in the same chain, no one can draw their own name, and no two people end up simply swapping gifts with each other. If your keep-apart pairs make a single loop impossible, for example when one person has to avoid several others, the generator falls back to any fair matching where nobody draws themselves and every pair is still honored.

Keep apart pairs

Before accepting a draw, the generator checks every keep-apart pair in both directions. If Ava and Ben are listed, Ava will not draw Ben and Ben will not draw Ava. If your pairs make a fair draw impossible, a message asks you to remove one and try again. Names must be spelled the same as in the main list; capital letters do not matter.

Sharing the matches privately

Nothing is emailed, texted or sent anywhere, and there is no account to create. The organizer decides how people learn their match:

• Pass the device. Each person taps Reveal next to their own name, reads it, and taps Hide before handing it on.
• Message each person. The organizer reveals one match at a time and sends it to that person privately.
• Keep a record. Show all reveals every match at once. Copy list copies them all plus your note, and Download CSV saves a file you can open in a spreadsheet.

After Show all, every name stays visible until you draw again, so use it only when nobody else can see the screen. Your names, pairs and note are saved in this browser, but the matches are not. Copy or download them before you close the page.

Good uses

• Office gift swaps. Paste the team list and keep apart people who already sit together, if you like.
• Family holidays. Keep spouses and partners apart so everyone shops for someone new.
• Classrooms. A teacher runs the draw and writes each student’s match on a folded slip.
• Friends in different cities. The organizer messages each person their match along with the budget and mailing date.

Fair and private

The shuffle uses your browser’s cryptographic random generator (crypto.getRandomValues), so every allowed chain has the same chance of being drawn. The names you type stay on your device.

To split the same group into teams for a party game, use the random team generator. To pick who opens the first gift, spin the random name picker.