Color plays an important role in our lives. We are surrounded by color every day, whether it’s the green of trees, the blue of the sky, or the multitude of colors used in signage, products, and media. But how many different colors are actually named and defined?
When it comes to color, one of the most common models used is the hexadecimal or hex color system. This system allows colors to be specified using 6 hexadecimal digits corresponding to the red, green, and blue components. From these digits, 16,777,216 possible colors can be defined. However, only a small subset of these colors tend to be named and commonly used.
Hex Color System
Hex colors are defined using the RGB (red, green, blue) color model. Each color component (R, G, or B) is assigned a value from 00 to FF (256 decimal values). By combining the decimal values for red, green, and blue, over 16 million possible colors can be specified. Some examples of hex colors are:
- #FF0000 – Pure red
- #00FF00 – Pure green
- #0000FF – Pure blue
- #FFFFFF – White
- #000000 – Black
The first two digits represent the red value, the next two the green value, and the last two the blue value. Hex values allow colors to be expressed in a concise alphanumeric format that is used widely in design, web development, and computing.
Named Colors
While hex values provide a precise specification for any color, it can be difficult remembering codes and communicating shades by code alone. As a result, certain hex colors tend to get named for convenience. For example, the hex color #FF0000 is commonly referred to as red. Over the years, a number of color names have emerged to describe certain common hex colors.
Many early color names were derived from natural pigments and dyes used by artists. Colors like crimson, magenta, cyan, indigo, amber and violet were inspired by fabrics and paints. Other common color names refer to things in nature, such as lime, aqua, lavender and salmon. While subjective, these poetic color names provide a more memorable way to identify certain shades.
X11 Color Names
In order to standardize color names across different computers, displays and software, a color scheme was defined as part of the X Window System Version 11 (X11) in 1987. This X11 color system specified color names for each of the 256 RGB hex values from #000000 to #FFFFFF. The X11 color list provided a consistent set of names like ghostwhite, lemonchiffon, palevioletred, darkolivegreen, dodgerblue, and firebrick that could be used across various systems.
Some examples of X11 color names include:
| Color Name | Hex Value |
|---|---|
| White | #FFFFFF |
| Silver | #C0C0C0 |
| Gray | #808080 |
| Black | #000000 |
| Red | #FF0000 |
| Lime | #00FF00 |
| Blue | #0000FF |
| Yellow | #FFFF00 |
| Cyan | #00FFFF |
| Magenta | #FF00FF |
| Orange | #FFA500 |
| Pink | #FFC0CB |
With 256 predefined color names, the X11 list provided a common vocabulary for software, web pages, and documents to specify colors in a more memorable way compared to hex values alone.
Extended Color Keywords
Building upon the original X11 colors, the CSS3 specification added additional standardized color keywords in 2011. Referred to as extended color keywords, this specification increased the number of named colors to 147 by adding definitions for shades like rebeccapurple, papayawhip, mediumaquamarine, and darkgoldenrod.
CSS extended color keywords make it easier to customize web content by providing more named options beyond the basic colors. They also allow color themes to be adjusted in a more semantic way by using names like darkred versus red when a darker shade is desired.
CSS4 Colors
In the upcoming CSS4 specification, the number of named colors is expanded even further. Currently in draft status, CSS4 proposes color keywords for pastel variants, darker tones, and multi-word names that bring the total to around 350 defined color names.
Some examples of the new color keywords proposed in CSS4 include:
- DarkLime
- VividSkyBlue
- StrongPurple
- LightYellowGreen
- MediumPurple
- GrayishBlue
- VeryDarkGray
These extended keywords allow more nuanced semantic color choices and align with other changes in CSS4 like HWB (hue, whiteness, blackness) color notation.
Other Named Colors
In addition to the standardized color names from X11, CSS3, and CSS4, there are thousands of additional specialty color names used in niche areas. For example, companies like Crayola, Pantone, and Microsoft have their own named color collections for products like crayons, graphic design, and web development.
There are also many industry and application-specific named colors. For instance, over 200 color names are defined just for concrete pigments. Similar specialized color lists exist for cosmetics, plastics, automotive paints, fashion, electronics, and other domains.
While not standardized, these commercial and domain-specific colors provide convenient names for shades relevant to those industries and use cases.
Total Named Hex Colors
Adding up all the standardized as well as specialty named hex colors gives us a total in the thousands. Here’s a summary of named color totals from different sources:
| Source | Colors |
|---|---|
| X11 | 256 |
| CSS3 | 147 |
| CSS4 (draft) | ~350 |
| Commercial/Domain-Specific | ~500-1000 |
So in total there are approximately 1,000 to 2,000 named hex colors, depending on what sources are included. The actual total may be towards the higher end of that range when aggregating across all niche color collections. Even though hexadecimal codes allow over 16 million values, only about 0.01-0.1% of those have common names associated with them.
Conclusion
Named hex colors provide a more human-readable way to specify shades while retaining the precision of hexadecimal notation. While 16 million hex values exist, only around 1,000 to 2,000 colors tend to have standardized or commonly-used names.
Color naming conventions like X11, CSS3, and CSS4 establish shared vocabularies for software, design, and the web. At the same time, industry and application-specific names enrich the color lexicon further. So whether it’s azure, tangerine, golden poppy, avocado, denim, or any other imaginable shade, named colors add meaning and life to the hexadecimal color system.