CSS Named Colors Browser

All 148 CSS named colors — searchable, sortable, filterable. Click any color to copy hex, RGB, or HSL.

148 colors

About CSS Named Colors

CSS named colors are predefined color keywords that can be used anywhere a color value is accepted in CSS. The current specification defines 148 named colors, from the familiar "red" and "blue" to the obscure "papayawhip" and "blanchedalmond." Each named color maps to a specific RGB value and is supported in all modern browsers.

History of CSS Named Colors

The first CSS specification (CSS1, 1996) defined just 16 color keywords, mirroring the Windows VGA color palette: aqua, black, blue, fuchsia, gray, green, lime, maroon, navy, olive, purple, red, silver, teal, white, and yellow. CSS2 (1998) expanded this by incorporating the X11 color names used in Unix/Linux systems, which were later standardized in the SVG specification. The current CSS Colors Level 4 specification formalizes all 148 names, including the beloved rebeccapurple added in 2014.

Named Colors in Production

Named colors are most useful for prototyping and simple styling where exact brand colors are not required. In production design systems, hex codes, HSL, or CSS custom properties are preferred because they offer precise control and can be systematically manipulated (e.g., adjusting lightness programmatically). Named colors remain popular for utility classes, debugging, and learning CSS because they are easy to read and remember.

Understanding HSL Values

HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness) is often more intuitive than RGB or hex for understanding a color. Hue is a degree on the color wheel (0°=red, 120°=green, 240°=blue). Saturation is how vivid the color is (0%=gray, 100%=fully saturated). Lightness controls brightness (0%=black, 50%=normal, 100%=white). Sorting by hue in this tool shows colors in spectrum order; sorting by lightness shows from dark to light.

Color Families

The 148 CSS colors can be grouped into families for easier navigation. Reds and pinks include crimson, firebrick, hotpink, and deeppink. Greens range from the bright chartreuse to the deep darkgreen. Blues include the ocean-like teal, dodgerblue, and royalblue families. The white/off-white family contains surprisingly distinct shades: ivory, linen, seashell, snow, and whitesmoke all appear nearly white but have subtle warm or cool tints that affect readability over colored backgrounds.

Frequently Asked Questions

The CSS Color Level 4 specification defines 148 named colors. These include the original 16 Windows VGA colors from CSS1, X11/SVG colors added in CSS2, and all are supported in every modern browser.
No. CSS named colors are case-insensitive. 'red', 'Red', and 'RED' are all equivalent. The convention is lowercase for consistency with modern CSS.
'gray' and 'grey' are aliases for the same color (#808080). Similarly, darkgray/darkgrey, lightgray/lightgrey, and others with "gray" in the name accept both spellings.
Named colors are great for prototyping and readability. Hex codes (or HSL) give precise control and are preferred for production design systems. There are only 148 named colors vs. 16.7 million possible hex colors.
rebeccapurple (#663399) was added to CSS in 2014 in honor of Rebecca Meyer, daughter of CSS expert Eric Meyer, who passed away at age 6. It is the only CSS named color named after a person.