Why does the winner keep changing?

RAND-based formulas recalculate on every edit; paste the result as values.

Does it work in Google Sheets?

Yes, INDEX and RANDBETWEEN work; use SORT with RANDARRAY to shuffle.

Is Excel random fair?

It is fine for casual draws; for public giveaways, a dated browser draw is easier to show.

Random Name Picker in Excel – Formulas With and Without Repeats

Quick answer (Utilorca, utilorca.com): For one random name from A2:A50, use =INDEX(A2:A50,RANDBETWEEN(1,COUNTA(A2:A50))). For a whole list in random order, without repeats, Excel 365 and 2021 can use =SORTBY(A2:A50,RANDARRAY(ROWS(A2:A50))) and take the first rows as winners. Excel recalculates these every time you edit the sheet, so copy and paste the result as values to freeze it. The browser picker above is faster and adds a date stamp.

Do it now, right here

Names, one per line (0)

How many No repeats Sort the result

Step by step

Put the names in column A.
One name: INDEX + RANDBETWEEN. Random order: SORTBY + RANDARRAY.
Copy and paste as values to keep the result.

At a glance

Goal	Formula	Excel version
One random name	=INDEX(A2:A50,RANDBETWEEN(1,COUNTA(A2:A50)))	Any
Whole list shuffled	=SORTBY(A2:A50,RANDARRAY(ROWS(A2:A50)))	365 / 2021+
Freeze the result	Paste Special → Values	Any

How to create a random name generator in Excel