FREE WEB TOOL

Weighted random name picker

Pick one name randomly with probability proportional to a weight you assign to each entry.

Use tool

Name, weight

🔒 Inputs are processed locally in your browser.

Result

How to use it

Assign a weight to each candidate and draw one result with probability proportional to those weights. Use it when some options should be more likely than others.

Enter one name, weight pair per line. A tab can also separate the name and weight.
Choose Animate or Instant.
Select Pick and review the chosen name plus its weight information.

Input format: One entry per line, such as Alice, 1
Weight: Any number greater than 0
Probability: weight ÷ sum of all weights
Result: One name + selected weight / total weight

With weights 1, 3 and 2, Bob has a 50% share

For Alice, 1, Bob, 3 and Carol, 2, the total weight is 6. Bob therefore occupies 3/6, or 50%, of the draw range.

Weights are relative. Changing 1 / 3 / 2 to 10 / 30 / 20 keeps exactly the same probabilities.

Think of weight as extra tickets

A candidate with weight 3 occupies three times as much of the draw range as a candidate with weight 1. The tool selects one point across the combined weight total.

Decimal weights are allowed

Weights do not have to be integers. Positive values such as 0.5 or 1.5 work; zero and negative values are invalid.

Repeated names remain separate entries

Identical names are not merged automatically. Two rows with the same name behave as two weighted entries, so remove accidental duplicates first.

Not intended as an auditable official lottery

This is a convenient browser-based random picker. High-stakes draws that require formal audit trails need a separately controlled process.