About CSS Named Colors

Browse all 147 CSS named colors with hex values — instantly searchable. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the Color collection.

Use Cases

• Frontend developers quickly looking up hex values for named CSS colors
• Designers referencing the full named color list for rapid prototyping
• Students learning CSS colors by browsing the complete named palette
• Technical writers referencing official color names in style documentation

Tips

• Search by name to instantly find any of the 147 CSS named colors
• Each color shows its hex equivalent for quick copy-paste into stylesheets
• Browse by hue family to discover named colors you might not know exist

Fun Facts

• CSS named colors grew from 16 original HTML colors (defined in HTML 3.2, 1997) to 147 when CSS3 adopted the X11 color list from the Unix windowing system.
• The color 'rebeccapurple' (#663399) was added to CSS in 2014 as a tribute to Rebecca Meyer, the six-year-old daughter of CSS expert Eric Meyer, who passed away from brain cancer.
• Some CSS named colors are confusingly different from their real-world namesakes — 'darkgray' (#A9A9A9) is actually lighter than 'gray' (#808080) in the CSS specification.

FAQ

Why use named colors?

Quick prototyping, readable code, and legacy compatibility. `color: tomato` is more memorable than `#FF6347` for exploration.

Are the names standardized?

Yes — CSS Color Module. 147 names, supported by all browsers. Named colors don't change their definition across browser versions.

Which is the most-used named color?

No hard data, but `white`, `black`, `red`, `blue`, `gray` dominate in production CSS. The exotic ones (mediumaquamarine, palegoldenrod) are rarely seen.

Can I add custom names?

In CSS, no — named colors are fixed. For project-specific names use CSS custom properties: `--brand-tomato: #ff6347;`.