How do the excluded pairs work?

A pair is blocked in both directions at once: if you exclude Ada and Grace, Ada will not draw Grace and Grace will not draw Ada. That is what people usually mean with couples or housemates, who would otherwise just swap gifts at home.

Do I have to enter email addresses?

No. Names alone are enough, because nothing is mailed out. Everyone gathers around one screen and taps Reveal on their own card, then hides it again before passing the device on. If your group is not in the same room, send each person their line yourself.

Why does it sometimes say no draw is possible?

Because your exclusions leave no valid arrangement at all. With four people and three excluded pairs there may simply be no way to give everyone a partner. The tool refuses instead of quietly breaking one of your rules; remove a rule or add another person.

Is the result really random, or does it follow a pattern?

Without exclusions the tool keeps drawing a full random permutation until one has no fixed point. That is rejection sampling and it lands on every possible arrangement equally often, so the result does not drift towards the same pairs year after year. With tight exclusions it falls back to a search that always respects your rules but no longer guarantees that even spread.

Secret Santa Generator - Draw Names Without Email or Signup

Tools / Randomizers / Secret Santa

Secret Santa draw

Participants

Excluded pairs

These two will never draw each other — useful for couples or housemates. Optional.

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Secret Santa generator - frequently asked questions

Never. The draw is a derangement, a permutation with no fixed point, so every person is matched with someone else by construction. A plain shuffle would leave people matched with themselves roughly a third of the time, which is exactly the failure people notice.

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