Color Names Finder

Look up CSS and web color names, or find the closest named color to any hex value.

Name Lookup

Type a color name to get its HEX value.

crimson

#DC143C

Examples

Lookup rebeccapurple

Input
Name: rebeccapurple
Output
HEX: #663399

RebeccaPurple was added to the CSS color spec in CSS Color Module Level 4 in honor of Rebecca Meyer.

Find the nearest name for a custom hex

Input
Color: #7fb069 (a soft green)
Output
1. yellowgreen (#9ACD32)  ΔE 7.71
2. olivedrab (#6B8E23)  ΔE 6.48
3. darkseagreen (#8FBC8F)  ΔE 8.40
4. darkolivegreen (#556B2F)  ΔE 10.99
5. darkkhaki (#BDB76B)  ΔE 13.12

The exact soft green is not in the dictionary, so the tool returns the closest perceptual matches. The ΔE values make it clear that none of them are perfect — confirming your color is genuinely custom.

About this tool

Color Names Finder is a two-way lookup for CSS-style named colors. The 'Find by Name' tab maps a string (like `rebeccapurple`) to its canonical HEX value, covering the 148 CSS named colors plus extended web palette entries like `aliceblue` and `papayawhip`.

The 'Find by Color' tab works the other way around: pick any color and it returns the 5 nearest named colors ranked by CIEDE2000 perceptual distance. CIEDE2000 is the modern perceptual-difference metric defined by the CIE — values under ~1 are imperceptible, ~2–3 are just noticeable, and >5 are clearly different colors. Lookups are case-insensitive and instant because the underlying dictionary is a plain object literal — no network call.

How to use

  1. Look up by name

    Open the 'Find by Name' tab, type a color name (e.g. `crimson`, `cornflowerblue`, `rebeccapurple`) and read its HEX value. Names are matched case-insensitively.

  2. Find closest names by color

    Switch to 'Find by Color', pick any color with the Color picker, and the tool lists the 5 nearest named colors ordered by perceptual distance (ΔE 2000).

  3. Read the ΔE score

    Each match shows a ΔE value. A score under ~1 is visually identical; 2–3 means a careful viewer could tell them apart; 5+ is an obvious difference.

  4. Copy or verify

    Click any swatch to copy its HEX. Type a candidate name into the lookup to confirm whether it is recognized — only standard + extended CSS names are present, not XKCD-style names.

Use cases

Picking semantic color tokens

Use a named color in CSS or design tokens when a precise value is not required — names like `slategray` or `goldenrod` are easier to remember and survive theme tweaks.

Verifying custom hex against the named palette

If a designer gives you a custom hex, run it through 'Find by Color' to see whether one of the standard names is close enough to use instead.

Teaching color naming conventions

The combined dictionary is a quick reference for the difference between CSS Level 3 names, Level 4 additions like `rebeccapurple`, and browser-specific legacy names.

Common mistakes

Mistake:Assuming every name is a standard CSS name.

Fix:Only the 148 names from CSS Color Module Levels 1–4 are guaranteed portable across browsers; some entries are web extensions.

Mistake:Reading ΔE as 'wrong' when it is small.

Fix:A ΔE of 1–2 between your color and the nearest name means the name is essentially the same color to a human observer.

Mistake:Confusing RGB distance with perceptual distance.

Fix:Two colors can be far apart in RGB space yet look nearly identical (or vice versa). The tool uses CIEDE2000, which is calibrated for human perception.

Frequently asked questions

References & standards

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