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Secret Santa Generator
Draw names for Secret Santa in a minute: keep couples apart, set a spending limit, and send everyone a private link to reveal their match and share a wishlist. No sign-up, no emails.
Draw names
How to draw names for Secret Santa
- List everyone taking part. One name per line, the way people know each other: Mum, Uncle Dev, Priya from accounts. If two people share a name, add an initial.
- Keep couples apart. Put each couple or household on its own line under "Who shouldn't draw each other", like Alex & Sam. Nobody in a group draws anyone else in it.
- Set a limit and a date. The spending limit, the exchange date and your note appear on everyone's page, so nobody has to ask twice.
- Send each person their link. Press Draw names, then copy each person's link from your organizer page and send it to them on its own, by text, WhatsApp, Slack or email. They press Reveal to see who they're buying for, and can leave a wishlist for their own Secret Santa.
An example. Six cousins, two of them married to each other: list all six, add the couple as one line, set $30 and December 24, and press Draw names. Each cousin gets a link; the married pair can't draw each other, and nobody ends up buying for the person buying for them.
Questions
How does the Secret Santa generator work?
Type everyone's names, add any couples or households who shouldn't draw each other, and press Draw names. You get a private organizer page with a personal link for each person. Send each link to its owner by text, WhatsApp or email; when they open it and press Reveal, they see who they're buying for.
Do I need everyone's email address?
No. Nobody signs up and no email addresses are asked for. You send the links yourself, any way you like, so the draw works for a family group chat, an office Slack channel or a party where you read names out.
Can I stop couples from drawing each other?
Yes. In "Who shouldn't draw each other", put each couple or household on its own line, like Alex & Sam, or Priya & Dev & Ana for a family of three. Nobody in a group draws anyone else in it. If the groups leave no way to match everyone, the form says so before anything is drawn.
Can the organizer see who has who?
No. The organizer page lists everyone's link and ticks off who has revealed their match, but it never shows the matches. Each person only sees their own. If you're organizing and taking part, open only your own link.
What if someone loses their link?
Open the organizer page and copy their link again. Bookmark the organizer page when you make the draw: its address is the only way back to the links, and nobody else has it.
Is the draw random, and can people end up with each other?
Every match is picked by a cryptographic random generator on our server. Nobody draws themselves, and pairs who'd buy for each other (Alex for Sam and Sam for Alex) are avoided whenever the names and groups allow it, so the surprise holds.
How do wishlists work?
On their own page, each person can write a wishlist of up to 1,000 characters. Only their Secret Santa sees it, under the name they drew. People can change their list until the exchange, so it's worth checking back before you shop.
How long are the names and wishlists kept?
Until 30 days after the exchange date, or 90 days after the draw if you didn't give one. Then the draw and everything in it is deleted for good. The organizer can delete it sooner from the organizer page.
About
Type the names, put couples or households on a line of their own so they don’t draw each other, and press Draw names. You get a private organizer page with a personal link for each person, to send by text, WhatsApp, Slack or email however you like.
Each person opens their link and presses Reveal to see who they’re buying for, along with the spending limit, the date and your note. They can write a wishlist that only their own Secret Santa sees. The organizer page ticks off who has revealed their match, but never shows who has whom.
How it works
- A fair draw. Every match is picked by a cryptographic random generator. Nobody draws themselves, and nobody in a group draws anyone else in it.
- No giveaway pairs. Two people buying for each other is avoided whenever the names allow it.
- Checked before it’s drawn. If the groups leave no way to match everyone, the form says who’s stuck instead of making a bad draw.
- Private links. Each link holds a long random key. The pages are hidden from search engines and don’t pass their address on to other sites.
Notes
Names, wishlists and matches are stored only to run the draw, and deleted 30 days after the exchange date, or 90 days after the draw when there’s no date. The organizer can delete everything sooner. No email addresses are collected.
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