How does the nearest-color matching work?

The tool calculates the Euclidean distance in sRGB color space between your input color and each of the 148 CSS named colors. The color with the smallest distance is returned as the nearest match.

What color formats are accepted?

You can enter a 6-digit hex (#ff6347), 3-digit hex (#f63), an rgb() or rgba() value, or a CSS color name directly.

How many CSS named colors are there?

CSS Level 4 defines 148 named colors, including all the familiar colors like red, blue, and green, as well as more unusual ones like rebeccapurple, cornflowerblue, and papayawhip.

Is there a perfect Euclidean match for every color?

Only the 148 specific hex values that correspond exactly to CSS named colors will produce a distance of 0. Any other color will produce the nearest match.

Color Name Finder - Find the Nearest CSS Color Name

What are CSS named colors?

CSS defines 148 named colors that can be used directly in stylesheets without a hex value - for example tomato, cornflowerblue, and rebeccapurple. These names are defined in the CSS Colors Level 4 specification and are supported in all modern browsers.

How the nearest-color algorithm works

For colors that don't exactly match a named color, this tool computes the Euclidean distance in sRGB color space between your input and every named color, then returns the closest one. Distance is calculated as:

distance = √((r₁−r₂)² + (g₁−g₂)² + (b₁−b₂)²)

A distance of 0 means a perfect match. The maximum possible distance (black to white) is approximately 441.7.

Accepted input formats

6-digit hex: #ff6347 or ff6347
3-digit hex: #f63
RGB: rgb(255, 99, 71)
RGBA: rgba(255, 99, 71, 1) (alpha ignored)
CSS color name: tomato

Notable CSS named colors

rebeccapurple (#663399): added in CSS Color Level 4 in 2014 in honor of Rebecca Meyer, the daughter of web standards pioneer Eric Meyer, who died of cancer at age 6. It was the first color named for a person in the CSS specification.
cornflowerblue (#6495ED): one of the most whimsically named colors, a medium-bright blue that was the default background color for text fields in early web browsers and is still used as a focus color in some browser stylesheets.
hotpink (#FF69B4): added as a recognized color name, hotpink has no formal definition in any color standard prior to CSS - it was simply added to the CSS named colors list by browser implementers and later standardized.
papayawhip (#FFEFD5) and peachpuff (#FFDAB9): two of the more memorable food-inspired color names, both a warm cream-orange hue.

Named color categories

The 140+ CSS named colors can be roughly grouped by hue family:

Reds: red, crimson, darkred, firebrick, indianred, tomato, coral, salmon, orangered (~12 names)
Oranges/Yellows: orange, gold, yellow, khaki, moccasin, peachpuff, bisque (~15 names)
Greens: green, lime, darkgreen, forestgreen, olive, chartreuse, springgreen, mediumseagreen (~25 names)
Blues: blue, navy, royalblue, dodgerblue, deepskyblue, steelblue, powderblue, lightblue (~20 names)
Purples/Pinks: purple, violet, magenta, orchid, plum, thistle, hotpink, deeppink, lavender (~18 names)
Browns/Neutrals: brown, saddlebrown, sienna, tan, wheat, beige, ivory, linen, snow (~15 names)
Grays: gray/grey, darkgray, lightgray, silver, gainsboro, whitesmoke, dimgray (~10 names)