Spin a Name

Color wheel spinner

This color wheel spinner picks a random color, with every slice painted in its own color: choose a set of colors and press Spin.

Random color

Or click the wheel, or press Ctrl + Enter (⌘ + Enter on a Mac).

Quick lists:
7 entries

Up to 1,000 entries. Add an entry twice to double its chance.

Colours

The wheel picked

About this list: Common colour names with web hex values (CSS named colours where one exists).

How to use the color spinner

  1. The wheel starts with the seven colors of the rainbow.
  2. Use the quick lists to switch to all 42 colors, light colors, dark colors or the three primary colors.
  3. Press Spin. The pop-up shows the color the wheel picked.

You can type your own colors too, one per line. Any color the wheel knows is painted in that color. Others still work, but take their color from the Colours set.

Games with a color spinner

  • Mat games: spin for a color on each turn of a floor game that uses colored spots.
  • Color hunt: spin a color, and everyone has one minute to find something that color.
  • I spy: spin for the color, then say "I spy something…" in that color.
  • Board games: lost the spinner from a board game? Load its colors and use the wheel instead.
  • Team colors: spin to give each team a color for sports day.

For art and design ideas

A random color is a good way to try something new. Spin once and paint, draw or knit something using only that color and black and white. Spin two or three times for a color scheme you would never have picked yourself. Designers can use the light and dark lists to find a pair of colors with good contrast.

Save and share your color sets

Made a set you want to keep, such as the colors of your school or your sports teams? Open the Saved tab, give it a name and press Save. It stays in this browser. Press Share link to send the same wheel, with its painted slices, to someone else.

Learning colors

For young children, the painted slices make it easy to match the color to its name. Start with the rainbow or the primary colors, and add more as they learn them. Ask them to name the color before the pop-up appears, or to point to something in the room that is the same color.

Older students can learn the names of less common colors, such as teal, maroon or indigo, from the full list of 42.

Easy to read

Every slice shows the color's name as well as the color, so the spinner also works for people who find some colors hard to tell apart. The label on each slice is dark or white, whichever is easier to read on that color. The pop-up always shows the result in large text.

About the colors

The list of color names and their shades is shown under the wheel. Every color has the same chance of coming up. For another kind of random pick, try the zodiac wheel or the letter wheel.

Questions people ask

Why is each slice painted in its own color?

So you can see the result as well as read it. When a slice says a color the wheel knows, such as Red or Sky Blue, the slice is painted in that color.

How many colors does the wheel know?

42, from Red and Blue to Charcoal and Ivory. Press the "All 42 colors" quick list to put them all on the wheel.

What happens if I type a color the wheel does not know?

It still goes on the wheel and can still be picked. Its slice just uses a color from the Colours set you have chosen instead of its own color.

Can I spell it colour or grey?

Yes. Spelling does not matter for the slice names, and Gray and Grey both paint a gray slice.

Can I use it for a floor game with colored spots?

Yes. Load the colors your mat uses and spin for each turn. For the body part, make a second wheel with left hand, right hand, left foot and right foot.

Is this the same as an artist’s color wheel?

No. An artist’s color wheel shows how colors mix and match. This is a spinner that picks a color at random.

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