CSS named colors are predefined color keywords recognized by all modern web browsers. Instead of writing hex codes like #FF6347, you can simply use tomato in your CSS. There are currently 148 official named colors standardized by W3C, including the original 16 HTML4 colors (like red, blue, green), 130 X11/SVG colors, and the CSS4 addition rebeccapurple. These names are case-insensitive and work across all browsers.

There are 148 official CSS named colors in the W3C specification. These include: 16 basic HTML4 colors, 130 extended colors from the X11/SVG color set, 1 CSS4 addition (rebeccapurple), and 1 alias (cyan/aqua and magenta/fuchsia share hex values). Some colors also have British/American spelling variants like grey/gray and darkgrey/darkgray.

No, CSS color names are completely case-insensitive. You can write DodgerBlue, dodgerblue, or DODGERBLUE — all will render the same color (#1E90FF). This flexibility makes named colors easy to use in stylesheets without worrying about exact capitalization. However, the conventional format uses lowercase for consistency.

Both work perfectly in modern browsers. Color names are more readable and self-documenting (e.g., lightseagreen clearly describes the color). Hex codes offer more precision with 16.7 million possible values versus only 148 named options. For production websites, hex codes or RGB/HSL values are generally preferred because they allow exact brand color matching. Named colors are great for quick prototyping, learning CSS, and when you need a standard color that doesn't require precision.

rebeccapurple (#663399) is a special color added to the CSS Color Level 4 specification in 2014. It was named in memory of Rebecca Meyer, the daughter of renowned CSS pioneer Eric Meyer, who passed away from brain cancer at age 6. Rebecca's favorite color was purple. The web community rallied to honor her, and the W3C officially added this color name to the CSS standard — making it the first new named color added since the original specifications.

Yes, all 148 CSS named colors are supported in every modern browser including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Opera — even going back to Internet Explorer 3.0 for basic colors. The extended color set (X11 colors) has been universally supported since the early 2000s. rebeccapurple is supported in all browsers released after 2014. Named colors are among the most backward-compatible CSS features available.

You can use the color picker in this tool above! Select any color using the picker, and our tool calculates the Euclidean distance in RGB space between your chosen color and all 148 CSS named colors to find the closest match. This is useful when you have a hex code and want to know if there's a simple name you can use instead. Keep in mind that with only 148 named colors, the match may not be exact for every shade.

The 16 original HTML4 color names are: black (#000000), white (#FFFFFF), red (#FF0000), green (#008000), blue (#0000FF), yellow (#FFFF00), cyan/aqua (#00FFFF), magenta/fuchsia (#FF00FF), gray (#808080), silver (#C0C0C0), maroon (#800000), purple (#800080), navy (#000080), olive (#808000), teal (#008080), and lime (#00FF00). These were the first colors standardized for the web and remain fully supported today.