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Secret Santa Generator with Exclusions — Fair, Private, Free

Enter everyone taking part, add who can’t draw whom — partners, housemates, last year’s pairings — and draw. Results start hidden so each person reveals only their own match, or you can copy a private message for each person. Two things set this apart. When your rules make a draw impossible, it tells you exactly why: it finds the group of people whose allowed recipients are fewer than they are (Hall’s theorem) and names them, instead of retrying forever. And the draw is genuinely fair: every valid arrangement is equally likely. That matters because the familiar draw-from-a-hat method is not — we simulated it 300,000 times with four people and some outcomes came up three times as often as others.

How to use Secret Santa Generator with Exclusions — Fair Draw

  1. List everyone taking part, one per line.
  2. Add exclusion rules such as couples ("both ways") or last year’s pairings.
  3. Optionally require no swaps (A and B drawing each other) or one big gift loop, and set a spending limit.
  4. Draw, then let each person reveal only their own match or copy each person’s private message.

Frequently asked questions

Why does it say my Secret Santa is impossible?
Exclusions remove possible pairings, and past a point some group of people has fewer allowed recipients than there are of them. For example, if Ana, Ben and Cai are only allowed to draw Dev and Eli, someone must be left out. The generator finds that group using Hall’s theorem and names it, so you know which rule to relax.
Is drawing names from a hat fair?
Not quite. Drawing one person at a time and starting over whenever the last person is left with their own name makes some arrangements more likely than others. In a 300,000-draw simulation with four people, some outcomes came up three times as often as others, and the last person drew one particular name 45% of the time instead of 33%. This generator makes every valid arrangement equally likely.
What do "no swaps" and "one big loop" mean?
No swaps prevents two people drawing each other, which avoids an obvious guess. One big loop makes the gifts pass around the whole group in a single chain, which is nice for revealing gifts in order. Both are optional, and if your exclusions make them impossible the page says so.
Can the organiser take part without seeing everyone’s match?
Yes. Results are hidden by default. Pass the device round so each person reveals only their own name, or use the copy button to send each person a private message with just their match.
Are the names stored or sent anywhere?
No. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded or saved on a server. If you close the page the draw is gone, so copy the messages first.
How many people can it handle?
Office-sized groups are instant — a 60-person draw with 30 couple exclusions and no swaps completes in milliseconds.

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