Kris Kringle Generator

In Australia and Canada, Secret Santa is also called Kris Kringle. In Ireland the same game is Kris Kindle or Kris Kringel, and in the Philippines Kris Kringle sits alongside Monito-Monita. The rules don't change with the name: everyone in the group is randomly given one person to buy a gift for, and the giver stays anonymous, at least until the exchange.

Kris Kringle and Kris Kindle (also spelled Chris Kindle) are both worn-down versions of Christkindl, the Austrian Christmas gift-bringer whose name means "Christ Child". In parts of the United States, Kris Kringle had become another name for Santa himself by 1845.

The suggested event names in the Kris Kringle generator and the private pages say Secret Santa. Type your own event name, such as "Kris Kringle 2026" or "Kris Kindle 2026", and that name shows at the top of everyone's page and in the message you send them.

1. Add the names, one per line, or paste a list separated by commas, for 3 to 200 people. If two people share a name, the second becomes "Sam (2)", so nobody opens the wrong link.
2. Name the event and set the budget and date. Type a name like "Kris Kringle 2026" or "Office Kris Kindle". The currency starts from your browser's region: English (Australia) starts in AUD, New Zealand in NZD and Ireland in EUR, and you can switch to any of the others. Date quick picks offer the last Friday before Christmas Eve (December 18 in 2026), December 24 and December 25.
3. Add rules only if you need them: keep partners apart, avoid last year's pairs, make one big circle, or tick "I'm taking part too" if you're in the draw yourself.
4. Press Draw names and send each person their private link. The organizer page shows who has opened theirs, so you only chase the ones who haven't.

A work Kris Kringle goes best when it's opt-in. Put the budget cap and the exchange date in the announcement, give people a few days to say yes, and draw only from those who did. Don't chase anyone who stays quiet; they don't owe anyone a reason.

If two colleagues are a couple, or you'd rather gifts didn't go between a manager and their direct reports, set those pairs to be kept apart in the Kris Kringle generator before you draw. Send each link in a direct message on Teams, Slack or email, never in the team channel. As long as teacher mode stays off, the organizer page doesn't show who has whom, so the person running the draw can take part too. On the day, a drop-off box and gifts labelled with the recipient's name only keep the givers anonymous. The office Secret Santa guide has a three-week timeline and house rules worth pinning up.

A family Kris Kringle replaces buying for everyone with buying for one person: each adult draws one name and puts the whole budget into one gift instead of a pile of small ones.

Write couples on one line as "Ana + Ben" so partners don't draw each other; up to four people can share a line, which suits whole households. Paste last year's pairs into the Kris Kringle generator if you don't want anyone getting the same person again. If you'd rather keep the kids' presents separate, run a second draw just for them. Children can open their link on a parent's phone, and anyone without a smartphone can have a printed slip: their name on the outside, a QR code folded inside, and the match never printed. Everyone can add a wishlist on their own page, and only the person who drew them sees it. The family Secret Santa guide and the page on exclusions go into more detail.

There's no app to install. After the draw, the Share button opens WhatsApp, a text message or your own mail app with the message already written, for example: "Hi Sam! Here's your private Secret Santa link for Kris Kringle 2026…". You pick the contact on your own phone, so the Kris Kringle generator never asks for anyone's phone number or email address to run the draw. You can also copy a link into Messenger, Signal or any chat as a private message, or show a QR code to someone in the room.

Each link asks "Hi! Is this Sam?" before showing anything, and every time it's opened the visit is recorded and shown to its owner, so nobody can quietly peek at someone else's match. Secret Santa without email walks through every way to share the links.

A theme makes the exchange more fun than a round of gift cards. A few that work at any budget:

• Summer Christmas. Christmas falls in summer in Australia and New Zealand, so think beach, backyard and barbecue.
• Handmade or secondhand. Homemade food, a craft, or an op-shop find.
• Something to read, something to eat. Two small gifts within the same cap.
• My favourite thing. Everyone gives something they love and says why.
• Steal a gift. If your group likes a bit of chaos, swap the draw for a white elephant game where people can steal each other's gifts; the white elephant generator draws the turn order.

Write the theme in the event note so it shows on everyone's page. For what to buy, see the Secret Santa gift ideas.

It's another name for Secret Santa, used in Australia and Canada, and as Kris Kindle in Ireland. Everyone in a group is randomly given one person to buy a gift for, usually within a set budget.

Yes, it's the same draw under another name. Call your event Kris Kringle and that's the name everyone sees at the top of their page.

Yes. Kris Kindle is what the same draw is called in Ireland, so this doubles as a Kris Kindle generator. Name your event "Kris Kindle 2026"; if your browser is set to English (Ireland), the budget starts in EUR.

Yes. After the draw, the Share button opens a text or WhatsApp message with each person's link already in it. The generator never asks for phone numbers.

Not by default, so the organizer can join in. If your group doesn't need the secret, teacher mode shows every pair after a typed confirmation, and everyone's page then says it was used.

Yes. Drawing names, private links, rules, wishlists and printed slips are free. An optional Event Pass ($4.99 per event) adds anonymous messages between givers and the people they drew.