Team Randomizer — Split Names Into Random, Even Groups
Paste a list of names and split it into a number of teams or teams of a given size, fairly shuffled, with pairs you want kept together.
🔒 Runs in your browser — files never uploaded ⚡ No signup 💯 Free
Press "Make teams" again for a fresh shuffle. Sizes never differ by more than one person.
Make random teams from a list of names: choose how many teams, or how many people per team, and get evenly sized groups from a fair shuffle. Put a plus between names to keep people together on one line ("Grace + Hugo"), give teams colour names, and reshuffle as often as you like. Copy the result to paste into a message or a document.
How to use Team Randomizer
- Paste the names, one per line. Join people who must stay together with
+. - Choose the split: a number of teams, or a team size.
- Make teams. Press again for a different shuffle; copy when it looks right.
Fair and even
The list is shuffled with the Fisher–Yates algorithm driven by the browser's cryptographic random generator — the only shuffle where every ordering is equally likely — and then dealt round-robin into teams, so sizes never differ by more than one. Kept-together pairs are dealt as a unit to the team that is currently smallest, which keeps the balance even when several pairs are in the list.
Ways to split
- Number of teams — 12 people into 3 teams gives 4, 4, 4; 11 people gives 4, 4, 3.
- Team size — 11 people in teams of 4 gives 4, 4, 3 (three teams, the last short). The tool never creates a team of one when it can avoid it.
Keeping people together — or apart
"Alice + Ben" on one line keeps them on the same team. There is no "keep apart" option because it turns a shuffle into a constraint puzzle that is not always solvable; the practical approach is to reshuffle until the pairing you want to avoid is not there, which takes a click or two.
For picking a single winner or a random order, use the random picker; for names to practise with, the random name generator.
Frequently asked questions
How do I keep two people on the same team?
Put them on one line joined with a plus sign: Grace + Hugo. They are shuffled and dealt as a unit. Three or more work the same way.
Can I keep two people apart?
Not as a rule — it turns a fair shuffle into a puzzle that is not always solvable. Reshuffle until the pairing you want to avoid is gone; with a few teams it takes one or two clicks.
Why are the teams uneven?
When the number of people does not divide evenly, sizes differ by one (11 into 3 gives 4-4-3). Kept-together groups can also force a difference of more than one; the tool always deals to the smallest team to minimise it.
Is the shuffle fair?
Yes — Fisher–Yates with the browser's cryptographic random generator, the only shuffle in which every ordering is equally likely. The tempting sort-by-random-comparator trick is measurably biased.
Are the names sent anywhere?
No. Everything happens in your browser; the list is not uploaded or stored.