Paste a list of names, choose how many groups you want or how many people go in each, and the names are dealt out at random like cards. Names stay in this tab.
Pick Number of groups to say how many groups you want, from 2 to 10. Pick People per group to say how big each group should be, from 2 to 50, for up to 100 groups. In People per group mode the tool shows how many groups you will get before you generate.
The names are shuffled and dealt out one at a time, so extra names are spread across the groups and no group ends up more than one person larger than another. 10 names in groups of 4 make 3 groups of 3 or 4.
Find your class size in the first column, then read across for the group size you want. Each cell shows how many groups you get and how big they are. When a class does not divide evenly, the extra names are dealt out one at a time, so groups differ by at most one person.
| People | Groups of 2 | Groups of 3 | Groups of 4 | Groups of 5 | Groups of 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 6 groups of 2 | 4 groups of 3 | 3 groups of 4 | 3 groups of 4 | 2 groups of 6 |
| 16 | 8 groups of 2 | 6 groups of 2–3 | 4 groups of 4 | 4 groups of 4 | 3 groups of 5–6 |
| 20 | 10 groups of 2 | 7 groups of 2–3 | 5 groups of 4 | 4 groups of 5 | 4 groups of 5 |
| 24 | 12 groups of 2 | 8 groups of 3 | 6 groups of 4 | 5 groups of 4–5 | 4 groups of 6 |
| 25 | 13 groups of 1–2 | 9 groups of 2–3 | 7 groups of 3–4 | 5 groups of 5 | 5 groups of 5 |
| 28 | 14 groups of 2 | 10 groups of 2–3 | 7 groups of 4 | 6 groups of 4–5 | 5 groups of 5–6 |
| 30 | 15 groups of 2 | 10 groups of 3 | 8 groups of 3–4 | 6 groups of 5 | 5 groups of 6 |
| 32 | 16 groups of 2 | 11 groups of 2–3 | 8 groups of 4 | 7 groups of 4–5 | 6 groups of 5–6 |
| 36 | 18 groups of 2 | 12 groups of 3 | 9 groups of 4 | 8 groups of 4–5 | 6 groups of 6 |
Press Pairs in the quick sizes row, or set People per group to 2, to make pairs. Use it for partner reading, lab partners, a doubles tennis draw or a buddy system on a trip. 14 names make 7 pairs. Each Shuffle deals the pairs again. For a tool built only around pairs, try Random Pair Generator.
Turn on Balance by skill and type a number after each name: Ana 3, Ben, 5 or Cara:2. Names are sorted from highest to lowest, and each goes to the group with the lowest total so far. Every group header then shows its total points. A name without a number counts as 0. Use it for a pickup game, a quiz night or reading groups where each group needs a mix of levels.
End a name with a word that starts with # and a letter to give that person a label: Ana #girl, Ben #defender or Cy 3 #year7. Each person gets one label, and capital letters do not matter. Mix labels evenly then spreads each label across the groups so the counts differ by at most one where the rules allow: 12 #a and 12 #b in 6 groups give every group 2 of each, and 7 #a in 3 groups give 3, 2 and 2. Each group shows a line such as 2 girl · 2 boy. Labels work with Balance by skill too. Untick the option to deal at random and still see the labels.
Add a rule to keep chosen people in different groups, or in the same group, and the groups are dealt to follow it. Use it for two students who talk through a lesson, or for a pair who work best side by side. Rules stay in the open tab until you save the names as a class: a saved class keeps its rules, so they come back when you load it.
Turn on Captains and one random member of each group is marked. Every group name can be edited, up to 24 characters, so Group 1 can become The Falcons or Table 3. Press Print / PDF to put the groups on the board, Download CSV for a spreadsheet, or Copy as text for a message, with (captain) beside the captains. Labels show in the CSV and the PDF. Download after you are happy with the groups, because Shuffle deals a new set.
Under the names box, Load a saved class brings in a class from the Wheel of Names class library, and Save as class stores the current names, skills, labels and rules in that same library, so a class saved here shows up on the wheel and the other way round. The wheel gets the names only. Spin this class on the wheel opens the names on the wheel, and the wheel's class library has a Make groups from this class button that sends a class here.
With a class open, the tool remembers its last 5 groupings. Turn on Avoid recent groupmates and new groups steer away from putting people together who were together in those. Start fresh clears the remembered groupings.
Share groups makes a find-your-group link, with an optional title. Anyone you give the link to sees the groups in a read-only view, can type their name under Find my name to spot their group, and can open a full-screen projector view. For up to 30 names the share panel also shows a QR code for the link, so a class can scan it from the board.
The groups sit in the part of the link after the #, which a browser does not send to a server. Anyone who has the link can read the names in it, so share it only with the people in the groups.
Names stay in this tab until you save them as a class. A saved class, with its skills, labels, rules and last 5 groupings, is kept in this browser on this device and is shared with the Wheel of Names. Your settings, such as the split mode and group size, are kept in this browser too. Nothing you type is sent anywhere unless you make a share link, and its names stay in the part after the #, which is not sent to a server. The usage events this tool sends carry the tool name and never your names. Once you have opened this page while online, it opens again without internet in the same browser.
Choose People per group, then pick 4. The quick sizes row has a Groups of 4 button too. 24 names make 6 groups of 4. An uneven list such as 25 names makes 7 groups of 3 or 4.
In Number of groups mode, 2 to 10, and you need at least as many names as groups. In People per group mode, up to 100 groups.
Names stay in this tab unless you press Save as class, which keeps the class with its skills, labels, rules and last 5 groupings in this browser on this device. Nothing is sent to a server. A share link holds the groups after the #, which is not sent to a server. The usage events this tool sends carry only the tool name, never your names.
Yes. Each Shuffle is a new random deal, so any name can land in any group. To stop two people being grouped, add a keep-apart rule. With a saved class open, Avoid recent groupmates steers away from the last 5 groupings saved with that class.
The extra names are dealt out one at a time, one to each group. 25 names in groups of 4 make 7 groups: 4 groups of 4 and 3 groups of 3.
Yes. Type a skill number and a label after each name, such as Ana 3 #girl, then turn on Balance by skill and Mix labels evenly. Each label is spread across the groups, and the skill totals stay close.
Any word that starts with # and a letter, typed last after the name, such as #year7, #striker, #table2 or #french. One label per person. A # followed by a number, as in Section #1, stays part of the name. The groups mix whatever you type, so use it for gender, year group, position, table or language.
Yes. Turn on Balance by skill and type a rating after each name, such as Ana 3. Each group header shows its total, so you can see the groups are close.
Yes. Pick it under Load a saved class, or press Make groups from this class in the wheel's class library. Save as class here adds a class to the same library, with its keep-apart and keep-together rules.
Press Share groups. The link opens a read-only page where each person types their name under Find my name, and there is a projector view for the board. For up to 30 names the panel also shows a QR code to scan.