Secret Santa Generator

Draw names online in seconds. Everyone gets their own private link — and nobody sees who drew whom, not even you.

Free No sign-up Couples excluded Wish lists

1 · Who's playing?

Add everyone taking part. An email is optional — anyone without one just gets a link you can copy and send yourself.

2 · Who must not draw each other?

Couples usually skip each other — they buy gifts together anyway. Optional.

3 · The house rules

Agreed up front, and shown to everyone with their name. All optional.

Pick a real date and we'll email everyone once, that many days before — a nudge to actually buy the gift. Leave either field blank and we send nothing. The reminder never mentions who anyone was given.

Nobody draws themselves. You will not see a single pairing — including your own.

How to run a Secret Santa

It is the same game whether you play it round a kitchen table or across an office of thirty — one gift each, one name each, and nobody knowing who bought for them.

  1. Get everyone in. Add each person taking part. Add an email if you want us to send their link for you; leave it blank and you will get a link to copy.
  2. Set the exclusions. Couples usually skip each other — they shop together anyway. Optional, but most family draws use it.
  3. Agree the rules. A spending limit stops the awkwardness of one person spending £5 and another £50. Add the date and place while you are at it.
  4. Draw the names. Everyone gets a private link. You will not see a single pairing, so you can play properly yourself.
  5. Everyone adds a wish list. Two or three ideas is plenty — it is the difference between a gift someone uses and one that goes in a drawer.
  6. Swap gifts on the day. Traditionally nobody says who bought what until everything is opened, and then people guess.

Why the organiser should not be able to peek

In most Secret Santa tools the person who sets it up can see the whole list. That quietly ruins the game for them — they know what is coming, and everyone else's surprise is in their hands. Here the pairings are locked to each participant's own link and are not readable from our side either, so the organiser plays on exactly the same terms as everyone else.

Ideas for keeping it fun

  • Set a theme — homemade only, something edible, or the best gift under a fiver. Themes level the field better than a budget alone.
  • Write the tag, not your name. Label gifts "To Ana" and nothing else, so the guessing lasts until the end.
  • Open one at a time. It takes longer and it is far better — everyone gets their moment instead of a thirty-second paper explosion.
  • Let people ask for something small. A wish list of ordinary, inexpensive things beats a guessing game every time.

Frequently asked questions

Everyone taking part puts their name in. Each person is secretly given one other person to buy a gift for — never themselves. The group agrees a spending limit and a date to swap gifts. The giver stays secret, so when you open your present you do not know who it came from, and guessing is half the fun.

Three or more works best. Two is technically possible but it just means you buy for each other, so the secret disappears. Most families and offices run it with anywhere from 4 to 30 people, and this generator handles up to 100.

No. Each person gets their own private link, and the assignment is locked to that link — so the organiser sees a list of links but never a single pairing, and can take part fairly themselves. We cannot read the pairings either: only the link can unlock them.

Add an exclusion for them. Partners who live together usually buy gifts jointly, so drawing each other defeats the point. You can add as many exclusion pairs as you like, and the draw honours them in both directions.

You are told immediately, in plain English, with the name of the person who is stuck. For example, three people with one excluded pair cannot work, because the two remaining people can only buy for the same third person. Nothing hangs or spins forever — the draw is checked before any names are pulled.

Yes. Each person can add a short wish list on their own page, and whoever drew them sees it. It is the single easiest way to avoid unwanted gifts, and it keeps the secret intact because you still never learn who your own Santa is.

No. Email is optional per person. Add an address and we will send them their private link automatically; leave it blank and you simply copy their link and send it however you like — text, WhatsApp, or written on a slip of paper for anyone not online.

Yes. Assignments are drawn with a cryptographically secure random generator, and every valid arrangement is equally likely — subject only to the rules you set, namely that nobody draws themselves and your exclusions are respected.