Python: TypeError: object of type 'NoneType' has no len()

shuffle(names) is an in-place operation. Drop the assignment.

This function returns None and that's why you have the error:

TypeError: object of type 'NoneType' has no len()

You don't need to assign names to list or [] or anything else until you wish to use it.

It's neater to use a list comprehension to make the list of names.

shuffle modifies the list you pass to it. It always returns None

If you are using a context manager (with ...) you don't need to close the file explicitly

from random import shuffle

with open('names') as f:
    names = [name.rstrip() for name in f if not name.isspace()]
    shuffle(names)

assert len(names) > 100