Color Name Finder
Enter a hex code or pick a color to find the closest matching standard color name. The tool searches all 147 CSS/X11 extended color keywords and ranks them by how close each one is to your color, so you can see the best match plus a few close runners-up.
Sponsors
How the Color Name Finder Works
Only 147 colors on the entire web have an official, standardized name — the CSS/X11 extended color keywords. Every other hex code, meaning millions of possible colors, has no built-in name at all. This tool bridges that gap by finding which of those 147 named colors your color most closely resembles.
The Nearest-Neighbor Formula
Each named color and your input color are converted to RGB, then treated as a point in three-dimensional space with axes for red, green, and blue. The "closeness" between two colors is measured with the standard Euclidean distance formula:
\[ d = \sqrt{(R_1 - R_2)^2 + (G_1 - G_2)^2 + (B_1 - B_2)^2} \]
The tool computes \( d \) between your color and all 147 named colors, then sorts the results from smallest to largest distance. The smallest distance is the closest match — displayed prominently — and the next few smallest are shown as runners-up so you can judge how much better (or worse) the alternatives are.
Reading the Distance Value
A distance of 0 means an exact match. The maximum possible distance between two RGB colors is \( \sqrt{255^2 \times 3} \approx 441.7 \), which occurs between pure black and pure white. In practice, a distance under about 20–30 indicates a very close visual match, while anything above 80–100 means the named color is only a rough approximation.
Why the CSS/X11 List
The 147 names used here come from the CSS Color Module Level 4 specification's "extended color keywords," which is the same list browsers recognize when you write color: tomato; or background: rebeccapurple; in CSS. It descends from the older X11 color naming system used in Unix graphics software, which is why some names — like rebeccapurple — have interesting histories, and why a few colors (such as gray/grey or aqua/cyan) are simply aliases for the same hex value.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does this tool determine the closest color name?
It converts your color and all 147 standard named colors to RGB values, then calculates the Euclidean distance between your color and each named color in RGB space. The name with the smallest distance is the closest match.
Is this the same as a Pantone color name?
No. Pantone is a proprietary commercial color-matching system used mainly in print and manufacturing, with its own numbering (like "Pantone 186 C") and licensing. This tool only matches against the free, open CSS/X11 extended color keyword list used in web development — it has no connection to Pantone's system or its exact color values.
What standard is this list based on?
The 147 names come from the CSS Color Module Level 4 specification's extended color keywords, the same set of named colors supported natively in every modern web browser's CSS. This list originated from the older X11 color naming scheme.
Why isn't the exact color name shown for my hex code?
Because only 147 specific hex values out of the roughly 16.7 million possible RGB colors have an official standard name. Unless your color happens to be exactly one of those 147 values, the tool can only show you the nearest approximation — not an exact name.
Can two different hex codes match the same color name?
Yes. Since there are far more possible hex codes than named colors, many different (but visually similar) hex values will all resolve to the same closest named color.
Why do some named colors look the same, like gray and grey?
The CSS/X11 list includes British and American spelling variants (gray/grey, darkgray/darkgrey, and several others) that map to the identical hex value, so both spellings work interchangeably in CSS and both can appear as a match here.