Free creator tool

Pulse Spotlight – Random Name & Username Picker

Add your names or usernames and instantly spotlight one at random. Perfect for livestream shout-outs, choosing participants, picking questions, selecting guests and more.

Random Name & Username Picker

Pulse Spotlight lets creators paste a list of names or usernames and randomly choose one of them. Type the list straight in, or copy it from comments, a sign-up sheet, a team spreadsheet or a class register — anything with one entry per line works. Add as few or as many as you need: there is no limit on how many entries you can paste, and the count under the box keeps you up to date as you go.

Because each line is simply a piece of text, the tool is not restricted to usernames. Creators commonly use it for:

• Livestream shout-outs Reading a viewer out from the comments and putting their username on screen.
• Choosing participants Picking who gets to come up and join the next segment of the live.
• Selecting audience questions Drawing from the questions you have collected during the stream.
• Picking a guest Choosing between the people you have lined up to be interviewed.
• Choosing somebody to answer Handing a question or a challenge to one name from the list.
• Community activities Team names, topic suggestions, order of a queue, or classroom and community selection.

How to Use Pulse Spotlight

1. Paste or type your names into the box.
2. Put one name or username on each line.
3. Click Spotlight Someone.
4. Pulse Spotlight randomly selects one entry and reveals it in the spotlight.
5. Click Spotlight Another whenever you need a new name.

Two valid entries are the minimum. If you want somebody to be picked only once, switch on Remove selected names after each pick and the chosen line is taken out of your list for you — with the setting off (the default) your list is left exactly as you typed it.

Random Username Picker for Livestreams

When a creator wants to randomly select a username during a live stream, the hard part is rarely the randomness. It is keeping the list accurate while comments scroll past, and making sure the result is big enough that the whole room can see it. Pulse Spotlight is built around those two problems.

The list is a plain text box, so you can paste a hundred usernames in one go instead of tapping them in one at a time. Blank lines and stray spaces are handled for you, so a messy paste still produces a clean list. The selected name is then shown as the hero of the screen under the words In the Spotlight, at a size that stays readable on a phone held up to a camera or on a second monitor.

Stream Mode strips the page back to just the spotlight, the branding and the Spotlight Another button, and offers a fullscreen view for screen capture in your streaming software. The Recently Spotlighted list keeps the last ten names in front of you, which is useful for tracking who has already been called on during a long stream. Everything runs in your browser: it works as a window or fullscreen source in any streaming or recording software, and needs no account and no sign-in.

Pick Names Without a Spinning Wheel

Most random name pickers are built around a spinning wheel. Pulse Spotlight provides an alternative way to randomly select names without using a spinning wheel: instead of rotating a wheel, the selected name is revealed using a livestream-style spotlight animation. Names move quickly through the centre of the screen, a soft light sweeps across, the pace slows, and one name is left standing under the heading In the Spotlight.

It reads like a presenter calling somebody out of the audience rather than a game show graphic, which suits a live channel, a class, a community meeting or a team session just as well as a shout-out on stream. The selection itself is a straight random draw from the entries you supplied: every non-empty line has the same standing, duplicates count separately, and the tool shows no odds or probabilities of any kind.

Pulse Spotlight Frequently Asked Questions

Is Pulse Spotlight free?

Yes. Pulse Spotlight is completely free. There is no subscription, no account, no login, no payment and no watermark.

Do my names get uploaded anywhere?

No. Your list is read inside your browser and is never sent to PulseWave or stored on a server. It is saved only in your own browser so it is still there when you come back, and you can clear it at any time with Clear All.

How many names can I add?

As many as you like. Paste ten names, fifty, five hundred or more. Every non-empty line counts as one entry, and the counter under the box tells you how many are ready to be picked.

What happens if I have the same name twice?

Both are kept as separate entries, so the same name has the same chance of being picked as any other line. If you would rather nobody repeat, turn on Remove selected names after each pick, or delete the duplicate yourself.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. The tool is built touch-first with a large entry box, full-width buttons and a selected name that scales to the screen. Stream Mode works on small screens and adapts to portrait and landscape.

More from PulseWave

Picking a name is the easy part. If you are building a live channel around it, start with our guides to becoming a live creator, growing a live streaming audience and live streaming ideas that keep viewers watching. Our PulseWave Blog covers hosting, equipment and safe opportunities, and Creator Network Tools gathers the rest of the network's tools in one place.