How do I randomize a list of names?
Paste the names into the box and press Race. The finishing order is your randomized list, first to last. The order is drawn before any animation runs, so it cannot be nudged mid-race, and the share link reproduces that exact shuffle for anyone who opens it, forever.
Randomizing names is a solved problem. Any spreadsheet does it in one formula. What a spreadsheet cannot do is convince the other eleven people that the formula ran once.
This randomizes the same way — a seeded draw, fixed before anything moves on screen — and then plays the result out as a race between baby zodiac animals. You get a shuffled list and a link that replays that exact shuffle for everyone who opens it.
Shuffle the list, or pull one name
- Shuffle. Run a Race and the finishing order is your randomized list, first to last, in one go.
- Pull one name. Same race — the winner is the name. You get the runners-up too, which is what you want the moment the first name says no.
- Reverse it. Run a Rumble instead and the order comes out backwards: first one eliminated finishes last.
Messy lists are fine
The box takes one name per line, a comma- or semicolon-separated line, a numbered or bulleted list out of a doc, and a column copied straight out of a spreadsheet — it finds the names and ignores the columns either side. Duplicates are dropped, so a list scraped out of a chat thread still comes in clean.
Up to 12 names, free, with no account.
When the randomizer needs to be unfair
Some draws are meant to be weighted — a new starter gets better odds, someone who won last time gets worse ones. Weighted odds hands out lottery balls, and every ball count is printed in the final standings, so a rigged draw is still a transparent one.
When something else is the better tool
- A private shuffle. If nobody is going to question the order, a spreadsheet sort by
RAND()is a second's work. - More than 30 names. The roster caps at 12 free and 30 paid, in one match.
- A cryptographic shuffle. This is fair and seeded, not a source of secure randomness — do not use it to draw keys.
How it works
Paste the names
Typed, comma-separated, or a spreadsheet column.
Race them
The finishing order is the randomized list.
Share the link
It replays the same shuffle for everyone.
Questions
How do I randomize a list of names?
Paste the list, press Race, and read the finishing order. That order is your randomized list, and the share link reproduces it exactly.
Is the name randomizer genuinely random?
Yes. Each match is decided by a seeded random draw before any animation runs, and the animation is a replay of that decision. How the animals move changes nothing about who wins.
Can I randomize names without an account?
Yes. Up to 12 names, all three modes and shareable links are free with no sign-up.
Can I get the same random order back later?
Yes. Keep the link. It is seeded, so it replays the identical order forever.