Secret Santa generator

Secret Santa: one gift each, drawn at random

Secret Santa is a simple game: everyone in the group draws one name and buys that person a gift, without saying who they drew. On the day of the exchange, everyone gives one present and gets one. In France it is the Père Noël secret, in Spain amigo invisible, in Germany Wichteln and in Italy Babbo Natale segreto.

This Secret Santa generator does the draw for you, with no slips of paper in a hat. It keeps couples apart and gives each person a private link that only shows their own match, so the organizer can play too.

How to run a Secret Santa draw in 5 steps

1. In "Participants, one per line (3 to 100)", paste the names of the group. Two identical names are refused: add an initial to tell them apart.
2. Under "Exclusions", choose "Person 1" and "Person 2", then click "Add exclusion". These two people will not draw each other, in either direction.
3. If you like, fill in "Budget (optional)" and "Gift exchange date (optional)". Both appear on everyone's card.
4. Click "Draw names". If you are playing as well, first tick "I'm taking part too: don't show me the results": the page then shows the links only, never who gives to whom.
5. Send each person their link with "Copy" or "Share". They open it, read "Hi…, you're buying a gift for…" and click "Reveal the name" to flip the card.

For a party without phones, "Print cards" gives you three-panel cards: the person's name at the top, their match in the middle and a hatched flap to fold over the name.

How the draw works

Nobody draws themselves, and everyone gives and receives exactly one gift. "No mutual pairs" stops two people from buying for each other. "One big loop" links the whole group in a single chain, which is handy when presents are handed over one after another around the table.

Example with 6 people: with no exclusions there are 265 possible draws. Exclude 2 couples and 116 remain; add "No mutual pairs" and 64 remain; ask for one big loop and there are 48. The tool picks one of the valid draws at random. If the rules leave no solution at all, for example 3 people with 2 of them excluded from each other, a message says so.

Budget, date and fun rules

Around $15 to $20 (or £10 to £15) works well at work, a little more in a family. Set the date two or three weeks ahead so there is time to shop and ship. A few ideas:

• a theme: a book, something red, a treat from your hometown;
• a handmade gift: cookies, a knitted scarf, a drawing;
• a silly gift, in the spirit of the German Schrottwichteln: everyone wraps a useless or tacky object from home, just for laughs.

At the office, with family or long distance

At the office, a small budget and a neutral theme keep everyone comfortable. With family, exclude couples, who buy for each other anyway, and print cards for the kids. Long distance, send the links by private message, ask everyone to mail their parcel before the date, then open the gifts together on a video call.

Privacy

The draw runs in your browser and the list stays on your device: no names are sent anywhere. Each result is stored in the link itself, after the # sign, and that part of a web address is never sent to the server. It is scrambled, not strongly encrypted, so a curious organizer could decode it. The page removes it from the address bar as soon as it has read it.

Frequently asked questions

Can the organizer take part without seeing the results?

Yes. Tick "I'm taking part too: don't show me the results" before the draw. The pairs are never written into the page, only the links appear. Just open your own.

What happens if I draw again?

"Draw again" creates new links. The old links still work but show the old result, so send the new ones to everybody.

Someone lost their link. What now?

On the device used for the draw, the links are still there on your next visit. Copy theirs and send it again.

Can I add a wish list?

No, nothing is stored on a server. The easiest way is for everyone to post three ideas in the group chat.