Draw names from a hat, online

How the online hat works

1. Type a name for every slip, one per line.
2. Draw one at a time to pick people, or use Secret Santa mode to give everyone a giftee in one go.
3. In Secret Santa mode, nobody draws themselves. Copy or share the results privately.
4. If you want to hand each person a private page, use the Secret Santa generator instead.

Why people still say "draw names from a hat"

The paper hat is the classic. Everyone writes a name, folds a slip, and draws one in turn. It is cheap, fun in a room, and has no technology to fail. It fails the moment people are not in the same room, when someone is late, or when someone draws their own name and has to redo it in front of everybody.

The online version keeps the idea and removes the repair work.

Is an online draw as fair as a hat?

Fairer, in some ways. A real hat is biased by how the slips were folded and which ones ended up on top. An online draw shuffles the full list so every ordering is possible. The hat rule that "you cannot draw yourself" is also enforced, not trusted.

What the hat has is trust in the room: everyone watches the draw. If your group needs that, run the draw on a call or on a TV and read out the rules first. For a draw nobody sees, Hollyhush keeps results hidden from everyone, even the organizer.

Common hat problems and how to fix them

• Someone draws themselves: put the slip back and redraw. Online, this cannot happen in Secret Santa mode.
• The last two people are left with each other or with themselves: the "last pair problem" in a hat draw. The online mode checks the whole draw before showing it.
• A couple draws each other: use the couples tool.
• Someone forgets who they drew: online results can be copied or kept in one place, so no one has to remember.

Skip the hat and the group chat. Hollyhush draws and gives each person a private link. Create your group, free

A quick method for a draw in a room

1. Count the names and write each on identical slips of paper.
2. Fold them the same way and put them in a hat, bowl or bag.
3. Have each person draw one, check it is not their own, and keep it secret.
4. If someone draws their own name, they put it back and draw again before the next person goes.