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Updated: April 21, 2025
What is a Wheel of Names?A wheel of names is a digital spinning tool that selects a random name from a list—often a person’s name—by spinning a colorful wheel much like those seen on television game shows. The simplicity of the concept hides its versatility. Rather than drawing slips of paper from a hat, the wheel offers a fun, transparent, and unbiased way to make random selections, helping people decide fairly and interactively.
Random Wheel Spin's wheel is also an online fidget spinner wheel. The wheel's creator's child is autistic and the spinning wheel has a very calming influence on her, visibly reducing her stress and anxiety as well as being a fun entertaining activity, especially the vocal announcement feature on the wheel.
At Random Wheel Spin, our wheel of names goes far beyond a basic spinner and random name picker. It uses advanced randomness powered by cryptographic technology to ensure every spin is fair and unpredictable. You can easily enter names, tasks, numbers, or custom choices, and let the wheel choose for you. From classroom use by teachers and students, to business giveaways and team building games and even family game nights, the wheel of names adds excitement and integrity to decision-making.
Each spin at Random Wheel Spin is powered by a provably fair system, utilizing secure randomness (CSPRNG) and SHA-256 hashing. This ensures each outcome is both unmanipulated and verifiable, making our wheel suitable for casual users and professionals alike.
How To Use the Wheel of Names
You can customize the wheel of names by changing the four main colors by clicking the "Change Colors" button as well as vocally announcing the winner each time or auto-removing the winner after each spin.
You can optionally copy and paste long lists of names from Excel, CSV or Google Sheets directly into the wheel to save you time. You can drag and drop an Excel/CSV file or use the import button. A prompt will appear asking you which columns you wish to import (you can import multiple columns in one go). With Google Sheets you simply copy the data you want to import and paste it directly in the wheel entries screen. You can also import multiple columns at once.
The wheel updates in real-time meaning there is no save button in any of the screens. The wheel saves automatically as soon as you update the names or colours. This means if you accidentally close your browser everything will reload the next time you open the wheel again.
Click the New Wheel icon to create a new wheel which will reset the current wheel and load in the default wheel colors and default starting names (your current wheel will be overwritten with the default wheel).
Click the Open Wheel icon to open a previously saved wheel. When you click this it will allow you to browse your computer for any previously saved wheels so you can open them (your current wheel will be overwritten with the opened wheel).
Click the Save Wheel icon which will save your current wheel's progress, including the current names, colors, wheel title and description. The saved file is stored on your computer's hard drive. No data is saved on our servers.
Click the share icon to share the wheel with other people, including friends, family, students or colleagues. You can share your wheel of names to any other App on your device or create a sharable link to your wheel.
Click the embed link (in top menu) to generate a snippet of code which you can insert into your own website. Only the wheel will be displayed in your website. All buttons and menus are removed to make it cleaner and simpler, so you can tailor it to your own branding. Applications of the Wheel of NamesThe wheel of names is used by a wide variety of people and organizations around the world. Its core purpose—making random decisions—can apply to nearly any situation where fairness or spontaneity is required.
Some common applications of the wheel of names include:
Unlike static lists or random number generators, the spinning animation of the wheel of names adds anticipation and excitement. Its visual nature also builds trust during group participation, as everyone can see the result unfold live.
Using the Wheel of Names by Teachers in the ClassroomTeachers have embraced the wheel of names as a dynamic classroom tool. It's perfect for randomly selecting students to participate, assign group work, quiz teams, or even choose topics for presentations.
The wheel helps ensure equal participation, preventing the same students from always volunteering (or hiding!). Plus, by removing the perception of bias, it encourages a sense of fairness and engagement.
At Random Wheel Spin, our wheel allows teachers to:
Whether it’s for online learning or traditional classrooms, the wheel of names adds fun and fairness to everyday teaching.
The Wheel of Names: A Digital Fidget Spinner for Calm and FocusAt first glance, the wheel looks like just a fun classroom tool for picking names randomly, but for many people—especially those who are neuro-diverse—this simple spinning wheel is much more. In fact, it acts almost like an online fidget spinner wheel, helping to provide a sense of focus, relief, and calm. There’s something about the smooth motion of the wheel, the satisfying click sounds, and the visual payoff when it lands—it’s soothing, even mesmerizing. It's also fun when the winner is announce vocally, especially if the wheel entry name is funny. The wheel of names is popular not just for teachers managing a busy classroom, but also for students dealing with anxiety or stress and also for parents with neuro-diverse children.
What makes this even more meaningful is the story behind the wheel’s creator. The developer has an autistic daughter, and while working on tools to help teachers engage students, he noticed how calming the wheel was for her. It became clear that it wasn’t just a random name picker; it was a digital space where she could find focus and calm and distract her from the stress she was feeling. For her, the spinning motion gave the same comfort as a tactile fidget spinner, but in a more accessible and visually engaging way.
Environments are often overstimulating and loud, and tools like Random Wheel Spin's wheel are small moments of reprieve for adults and children. Teachers have begun using the wheel not only to call on students or assign tasks, but also as a brain break—letting kids watch it spin and gently reset their minds. Especially for neuro-diverse students, this can be a game-changer in terms of classroom inclusion and emotional regulation.
So next time you spin the wheel, know it’s not just about chance—it might also be about finding a little slice of calm in a busy day.
Wheel of Names Examples and TemplatesNeed some inspiration? Here are a few creative wheel ideas you can use or modify:
You can start from scratch or use one of our ideas above. All wheels are fully customizable and easy to share. Whether you're organizing a classroom activity, party game, or social media giveaway, the wheel can turn any idea into an interactive and fair experience.
Is the Wheel of Names Random?
Yes this wheel is as random as it gets on a computer and uses advanced cryptographic Random Number Generation (RNG) technology similar to that used in slot machines in casinos. Every spin of this wheel is designed to be cryptographically random and provably fair, similar to the standards expected in online casinos or blockchain-based games of chance.
In games of chance, using Math.random() isn't enough. Random Wheel Spin uses browser-grade cryptographic randomness via crypto.randomUUID(), along with SHA-256 for irreversible hashing (used by financial institutions and government agencies).