Secret Santa generator
Enter everyone's name, add groups who must not draw each other, and press Draw. Nobody gets themselves, and every person gives to one person and receives from one. Results are hidden until you reveal them one by one.
Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Type each participant on its own line.
- To keep people apart, add a line such as “Ava & Ben” to the exclusions. Names must match the list (capitals do not matter).
- Press Draw names. Every person is listed with their match hidden.
- Tap Reveal next to a name, let that person read it, then tap Hide before the next person.
How it works
Givers are processed in a random order, with the most constrained people first. For each giver the tool tries receivers in random order and backtracks when a choice leaves someone with no valid receiver. It gives up after a fixed number of attempts and then reports that no draw was found.
Example
With Ava, Ben, Chloe, Dmitri, Eli and Fatima and the exclusion “Ava & Ben”, Ava might give to Eli and Ben to Fatima, but Ava will never receive from Ben or give to Ben, and the same holds the other way round.
Tips
- A result is hidden again whenever you press Draw names, so a redraw cannot leak the old one.
- Use full names or initials when two people share a first name, since duplicates are rejected.
Frequently asked questions
Can the organizer see who got whom?
Yes. The draw happens in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere, so there is no way to email private links. The organizer should reveal one name at a time, hide it again, and pass the device on, or skip Reveal all and read each result privately.
How do I stop couples from drawing each other?
Add a line to the exclusions box with their names joined by an ampersand, for example Ava & Ben. You can list a whole family on one line: everyone on that line is kept from drawing anyone else on it.
Is anyone ever left giving to themselves?
No. The draw is a derangement: no one draws their own name, everyone gives to exactly one person and receives from exactly one. The tool searches with backtracking until it finds a draw that respects every exclusion.
Why does it say no valid draw exists?
The exclusions leave someone with nobody to give to, or make a complete round impossible. For example, with three people where two of them are excluded from each other, both can only give to the third person, who can receive only once. Add people or remove an exclusion.