How many CSS named colors are there?

There are 148 named colors in CSS Color Module Level 4, counting the gray and grey spellings separately, plus the special transparent keyword. They range from basic names like red and blue to descriptive ones like papayawhip and lightgoldenrodyellow.

Are the hex values exact or approximate?

They are exact. Each CSS color keyword maps to one fixed RGB value defined in the specification, so rebeccapurple is always exactly #663399. This tool uses that canonical table, so there is no rounding or approximation involved.

What is rebeccapurple?

It is the color #663399, added to CSS in memory of Eric Meyer's daughter Rebecca. It is the only named color added for sentimental rather than functional reasons and is fully supported in all modern browsers.

Is gray spelled differently from grey?

Both spellings are valid CSS keywords and map to identical values, so gray and grey are both #808080. The same applies to the dark, dim, light, and slate variants, which all accept either the a or e spelling.

Why use named colors instead of hex codes?

Named colors are readable and self-documenting in small stylesheets and quick prototypes. For production design systems, hex or custom properties are usually preferred because named colors are a fixed, limited palette that may not match your brand.

CSS Named Color to Hex Converter

Look up CSS named colors

CSS defines 148 named color keywords, from everyday red and blue to oddly specific names like lightgoldenrodyellow and rebeccapurple. This tool resolves any of them to its exact hex code and RGB triple, with a live swatch and autocomplete. If you misspell a name, it offers did-you-mean suggestions so you can find the keyword you meant.

How it works

The converter uses the canonical color table from the CSS Color Module Level 4 specification — the same fixed mapping every browser ships. When you type, the input is lowercased and trimmed, then matched against that table for an exact keyword. If there is no exact match, the tool runs a substring search across all 148 names and surfaces up to eight close candidates as clickable suggestions. There is no approximation: each keyword resolves to one specification-defined RGB value.

Example and notes

Typing cornflowerblue returns #6495ed and rgb(100, 149, 237). Both gray and grey resolve to #808080, and the same dual spelling works for darkgray, dimgrey, slategray, and friends. The keyword transparent is a special case — it has no visible color and maps to a fully transparent value. For the reverse direction, finding the closest name to an arbitrary hex value, use the Hex to Nearest CSS Named Color tool.