Secret Santa with exclusions: keep couples and families apart

Who usually gets a rule

• Couples and partners. They give each other a present anyway, so a Secret Santa gift from your partner is no surprise.
• Parents and young children, when the parent would end up shopping for both sides.
• Housemates, or anyone who shares a budget.
• Last year's pairs, so everyone gets someone new.
• Anyone who asks. A difficult relationship is reason enough, and nobody else needs to know.

How to add rules in our generator

1. Type everyone's names on the Secret Santa page, one per line.
2. Under "Who shouldn't draw each other?", tap Add a rule and choose the two people.
3. Add one rule per pair. Each rule works both ways: neither person draws the other.
4. Create the group. The draw respects every rule, and nobody ever draws themselves.

How many rules can a group take?

Every rule removes options, and small groups run out quickly. In a group of three, a single rule already makes the draw impossible: if Ana and Ben can't draw each other, both of them would have to draw Cara.

If the only rules are couples, any group of four or more works. Adding last year's pairs as well needs at least six people.

If your rules leave no possible draw, the generator tells you before anything is drawn, and you can remove a rule or add people.

Avoid repeating last year's pairs

Ask everyone who they had last year and add a rule for each pair. Because a rule works both ways, it also stops last year's recipient drawing their old Secret Santa, which is usually fine in groups of six or more.

The organizer can take part too

In our generator, the organizer adds the names and the rules but never sees the matches: each person sees only their own after tapping their name, and there is no list of pairs anywhere. So setting up the rules does not spoil the surprise for the person who set them up.