White Elephant Number Generator

About the White Elephant number generator

Who goes first? In a White Elephant gift exchange, the order of turns matters: the last person can steal any gift. This tool draws that order for you, fairly, in one click — so nobody can say the hat was not shaken well.

Type the names of the players, press Draw the order, and everyone sees the turn order on one big board. Or choose Numbers only: the tool becomes a digital hat, and each person in turn presses a button to draw a number. Show it one by one for suspense, or put it full screen on a TV or a projector. If you would rather draw from a real hat, print numbered slips to cut out.

It all runs in your browser: no sign-up, no emails, and the names never leave your device.

Features

• Fair draw — every order is equally likely (a proper shuffle with your browser's secure random numbers)
• Names or numbers — a turn order for a list of names, or a digital hat that hands out the numbers 1 to N
• All at once or one by one — show the whole order, or reveal turn after turn with Space or the arrow keys
• Full screen — a big, clear board for the TV or the projector at the party
• Six board styles — Classic, Candy cane, Snowy night, Gold party, Ugly sweater and Minimal
• The last swap — an optional line that player 1 may swap once more at the end
• Printable number slips — 8 to 30 per page, five styles, a close-up of one slip and a PNG of it, one-click PDF
• Kept on your device — the names and the last draw stay there after a reload; copy the order into a chat

How a White Elephant exchange works

1. Everyone brings one wrapped gift and puts it on a table. Agree on a price limit first, for example $20 or $25.
2. Draw the order — this is what the tool does.
3. Turn 1 opens a gift from the pile.
4. Each next player either opens a new gift or steals an opened gift from someone. A person whose gift was stolen opens a new one or steals another.
5. Common rules: a gift can be stolen at most three times (then it is "frozen"), and you cannot steal back the gift that was just taken from you.
6. The end: when every gift is open, player 1 — who never had a chance to steal — may swap once more.

The same game is called Yankee Swap in New England and Dirty Santa in the South. The rules are almost the same.

Names or numbers?

• Names — best when you know who is coming. Type or paste the list (one name per line), draw, and show the order on the TV. Everyone sees their turn at once.
• Numbers only — best for an office party or a big family, when you do not want to type names. Set the number of players and press Fill the hat. Then pass the phone or laptop around: each person presses Next person and gets the next number, just like pulling a slip from a hat. The board shows how many numbers are left.
• Printed slips — best when the tradition is a real hat or a bowl. Print, cut on the dashed lines, fold, and let everyone pick.

Six board styles

• Classic — Christmas red with white cards and green numbers
• Candy cane — red and white stripes
• Snowy night — a deep blue sky with falling snow
• Gold party — black and gold, for an elegant evening
• Ugly sweater — a red and green knit pattern, for the fun party
• Minimal — plain and clean, in your page's light or dark colors

Frequently asked questions

Is the draw really random and fair?

Yes. The tool uses your browser's secure random numbers (crypto.getRandomValues) and the Fisher–Yates shuffle, with no bias: every possible order has exactly the same chance. Nothing is sent to a server.

Can I show the numbers one at a time?

Yes. Choose One by one. Each press of Next turn (or the Space key) shows the next turn big on the board. In Numbers only mode, each press gives the next person their number.

What does "player 1 may swap once more" mean?

Player 1 opens the first gift but never gets the chance to steal. So in many groups, player 1 gets one last turn at the very end and may swap with anyone. Untick the box if your group does not play this rule.

How many players can I have?

From 2 to 200. The full screen board makes the text smaller and adds columns when the list is long, so it still fits one screen.

What if someone joins late?

Add the name and press Draw the order again. Changing the list always clears the old draw, so everyone can see that it is a new one. The time of the draw is shown on the board.

How is this different from a Secret Santa generator?

In Secret Santa, each person is matched with someone to buy a gift for, in secret, before the party. White Elephant has no matching: everyone brings one gift, and the order of turns decides who gets what. For Secret Santa, use the Secret Santa Generator.

Related tools

• Secret Santa Generator — draw names for a gift exchange, with private links
• Spin the Wheel — pick a random name with a spinning wheel
• Christmas Countdown — days until Christmas, on the same big screen
• Printable Gift Tags — tags for the wrapped gifts
• Random Number Generator — random numbers in any range

How to use it

• Choose Names and type one name per line, or choose Numbers only and set the number of players
• Press Draw the order (or Fill the hat for numbers)
• Choose All at once or One by one, and press Full screen to show it on a TV
• Pick a board style, and tick or untick the last-swap rule
• For a real hat: scroll down to Printable number slips, pick a style and press Download PDF