long list of color names
npm install color-name-list align="left"
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A meticulously curated collection of __31884__ unique color names, built from
many sources and thousands of community contributions.
> The names of color function like a thread attached to a frightfully slender
> needle, capable of stitching together our most delicate emotions and memories.
> When the needle hits the target, we feel either pleasure or empathy.
> __Kenya Hara – White__
Explore & search names
| Use via JS / API
| CDN
| Color distribution
| Submit a new name
| Sources
| Sponsors
| Latest color names
This project aims to assemble the largest possible list of color names,
while maintaining high standards for name quality. We have merged numerous
lists, resolved duplicate names with different hex values,
and adjusted colors where identical values had different names.
Unlike many other color lists, this collection has a
__permissive license__, is __strictly__ curated, and
__automations__ ensure the highest quality:
- __Single, comprehensive archive__ 📚: Digital-friendly color names in one
place for design systems, creative tools, data viz, and code.
- __No clutter, no clones__ 🧹: Smart checks catch duplicates and
"almost-duplicates" so names and hex values stay unique.
- __Consistent naming rules__ ✍️: Strict formatting for
APA Title Case, language-specific
articles, normalized "and" forms, and proper apostrophes.
- __Valid, unique data__ ✅: Every entry has a valid hex code, no stray
whitespace, and no duplicate names or values.
- __Grown by a global community__ 🌍: Hundredths of contributors keep the
list fresh, weird, poetic, and alive.
- __Humanly curated__ 🧠: Human curators review and shape every entry, and we
discourage AI‑generated names so the list stays intentional and playful.
- __Open and permissive__ 🪪: Free to use, remix, fork, and build upon.
Released under the MIT License, requiring only simple attribution.
- __Inclusive naming__ 🤝: Slurs, hate speech, and protected brand names are
not accepted.
- __AI‑ready__ 🤖: High‑quality, human‑made names and rich file formats
make the list well‑suited for training AI models.
This repository ships multiple curated lists:
- __Full list__: The full collection, including many names merged from
historical and external sources. It’s exhaustive and great for exploration,
data viz, and long‑tail use cases.
- __Best of__: A hand‑picked subset of especially playful, evocative, or
well‑crafted names, chosen by human curators. Ideal when you want fewer,
higher‑signal options.
- __Short names__: A smaller set of concise names (typically one word or very
short phrases), useful where space is limited or brevity matters.
Install via npm:
``bash`
npm install color-name-list
Minimal JS example:
`javascript
import { colornames } from 'color-name-list';
const white = colornames.find((c) => c.hex === '#ffffff');
console.log(white?.name); // => White
`
See docs/usage-js.md for more
examples and utilities.
Other language implementations maintained by the community:
- JS/TS: docs/usage-js.md
- Java/Kotlin: docs/usage-java-kotlin.md
- C#: docs/usage-csharp.md
- Rust: docs/usage-rust.md
- [Color Picker & Name Search]: Click the wheel to discover a color name
or search by text.
- [Color Picker]: Click the colored area or enter a hex value below the name.
- [Color Picker II]: Move your mouse and scroll to select a color.
- [Name Search]: Full-text search on the color list.
- [Color Distribution]: 3D visualization of all color names in various
color models.
- [X Account]: Posts random colors and lets you submit new ones.
Submit your own color names by editing the
src/colornames.csv file and opening a pull request.
Please review the naming rules before contributing!
To contribute via Git, edit the src/colornames.csv filenpm test
and ensure tests pass locally ().
See the full guidelines in CONTRIBUTING.md for naming
rules, capitalization, CI behavior, and more.
~__0.19%__ of the RGB color space
!3d representation of color distribution in RGB Space (Preview image of link above)
When creating new color names, it's essential to understand which areas of a
color space are crowded and where new names can be added. For example, our API
returns the closest RGB color to a given HEX value. To prevent too many
colors from mapping to the same name, we strive for an even distribution in
color space: Visualization
The list is available in multiple formats,
or you can use the public REST API, making it easy to integrate into
your project.
#### All Names (Full list) 📚
The complete list of color names is available in various formats.
JSON
/ JSON.min
/ CSV
/ YML
/ TOON
/ JS
/ XML
/ HTML
/ SCSS
#### Best of Names subset 🏆
The curated "Best of" subset features a hand-picked selection of especially
playful, evocative, or well-crafted color names, chosen by human curators.
JSON
/ JSON.min
/ CSV
/ YML
/ TOON
/ JS
/ XML
/ HTML
/ SCSS
#### Short Names subset ✂️
The Short Names subset offers a smaller collection of concise color names,
typically one word or very short phrases, ideal for scenarios where space is
limited or brevity is essential.
JSON
/ JSON.min
/ CSV
/ YML
/ TOON
/ JS
/ XML
/ HTML
/ SCSS
__Bundle size note (1.22 MB)__: For browser usage,
consider the public REST API.
By default you get the full list. For leaner subsets,
you can import color-name-list/bestof orcolor-name-list/short, or use the bestOf andshort lists via the public REST API.
More examples: see docs/usage-js.md.
To simplify access, we provide a free and public REST API for all color names
and other public name lists. Full API code and documentation are available
in this repository.
#### API example
`url`
https://api.color.pizza/v1/?values=00f,f00,f00&list=bestOf
#### API Disclaimer
The API is free and has no usage limits. However, if your commercial app or site
generates excessive traffic, you may be asked to become a sponsor.
You are welcome to self-host the API—it's easy to deploy on Heroku and relies
only on a few dependencies: Color-Name-API
`shell``
npm install && npm run build
See package.json for details.
- docs/usage-java-kotlin.md
- docs/usage-csharp.md
- docs/usage-rust.md
- Thousands of user submissions Github
- [Wikipedia list of named colors] (2018-02-23)
- [Wada Sanzo's list of named colors]
- [CSS/HTML color names]
- [Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours]
- [ntc.js] (chir.ag's Name that Color library)
- [xkcd color survey list]
- [htmlcsscolor.com]
- [OSX Crayons]
- [Crayola crayon]
- [Japanese Twelve Level Cap and Rank System colors]
- [Thailand weekday colors]
- [Chinese heavenly creatures colors]
- [Military Paint]
- [Olympian god colors]
- Model Color Paints: Vallejo
- [Fictional Colors] (2018-05-09)
- Non English Transliterations:
Japanese
, Mandarin
, Hindi
, Persian
, Russian
, Māori
- Multiple paint, print, nail polish, model paint color lists
- Curated Machine Learning names from Matt DesLauriers
and Nathan Kjer
- Team Fortress 2 paint colors
- [Colorful Dots] 500USD
- [krissymashinsky.com] 300USD
- [color.museum] 100CHF
- [@tunnckoCore] 50USD
- [Myriam Aerne] 40CHF
- [Amin] 15USD
- [neverything] 25USD/month
- [Dmitry Iv.] 10USD/month
#### One-Time
| Item | Expenditure |
| ----------------- | ----------- |
| Logo by Metafizzy | 800 |
#### Periodic
| Item | Expenditure |
| ----------------------- | ----------- |
| Color Name API Server | 264.60/year |
| color.pizza domain name | 36.16/year |
| Cloudflare PRO Plan | 240/year |
- [meodai] Initiator, maintainer, name creator &, tooling
- [Nirazul] Name creator & tooling
- [Bathos] Tooling
- [Metafizzy] Logo 💖
- [Alex Cristache] [X Account] host and communications
[Verena the naming overlord]
, [Jess the name wizard]
, [Syl]
, [Stephanie Stutz]
, [Simbiasamba]
, [Jason Wilson]
, [Inês João]
, [Nick Niles]
, [Qwhex]
, [Ichatdelune]
, [basgys]
, Shelina S.
, Trevor Elia
, [cheesits456]
, [Sandhya Subram]
, [BerylBucket]
, [Jimmy Fitzback]
, [TLZ]
, [DarthTorus]
, [Carrion]
, [BlueChaos]
, [nachtfunke]
, Sean Gibbons
, Brantley Sibo
, Jeff Bronks
, Joseph Oloughlin
, Nathan Swift
, Abra Giddings
, Iraj Nelson
, [Alex Cristache]
, Evan Gardner
, Eliiiiii
, [Code Ghost]
, Alex Field
, BangHann
, James Galvan
We are committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful environment.
We actively remove any offensive, racist, or protected brand names from our
list. While we strive to screen out such names, some may inadvertently remain.
If you encounter any, please let us know
so we can address them promptly.
[Color Picker & Name Search]: https://codepen.io/meodai/full/pXNpXe
[Color Picker]: http://codepen.io/meodai/full/mEvZRx/
[Color Picker II]: https://codepen.io/meodai/full/xWNNwN
[Name Search]: https://codepen.io/meodai/full/VMpNdQ/
[Color Distribution]: https://codepen.io/meodai/full/zdgXJj/
[X Account]: https://twitter.com/color_parrot
[Ichatdelune]: https://www.reddit.com/user/Ichatdelune
[Inês João]: https://www.inesjoao.me/
[Jason Wilson]: https://github.com/SgiobairOg
[Jess the name wizard]: https://twitter.com/_nutbird_
[meodai]: https://github.com/meodai
[Bathos]: https://github.com/bathos
[Metafizzy]: https://metafizzy.co/
[Nick Niles]: http://nickniles.com/
[Nirazul]: https://github.com/Nirazul
[Qwhex]: https://github.com/qwhex
[Simbiasamba]: https://www.instagram.com/simbisamba/
[Stephanie Stutz]: https://www.behance.net/stephaniestutzart
[Syl]: https://twitter.com/MMOsyl
[Verena the naming overlord]: https://github.com/yxklyx/
[basgys]: https://github.com/basgys
[cheesits456]: https://cheesits456.dev
[Sandhya Subram]: https://sandhyasubram.github.io/
[BerylBucket]: https://github.com/BerylBucket
[Jimmy Fitzback]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmy-fitzback-6b602265/
[TLZ]: https://github.com/TheLastZombie
[DarthTorus]: https://github.com/DarthTorus
[Carrion]: https://twitter.com/Cutlaska
[BlueChaos]: https://www.instagram.com/bluechaos1811/
[Dmitry Iv.]: https://github.com/dy
[neverything]: https://neverything.me/
[Myriam Aerne]: https://fynoeggeli.ch/
[nachtfunke]: https://helloyes.dev
[amin]: http://www.slashui.com
[@tunnckoCore]: https://github.com/tunnckoCore
[Colorful Dots]: https://colorfuldots.com/
[color.museum]: https://www.color.museum/
[krissymashinsky.com]: https://www.krissymashinsky.com/
[Alex Cristache]: https://x.com/AlexCristache
[Code Ghost]: https://community.fandom.com/wiki/User:The_CodeGhost
[Japanese Twelve Level Cap and Rank System colors]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Level_Cap_and_Rank_System
[Chinese heavenly creatures colors]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_in_Chinese_culture
[Crayola crayon]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Crayola_crayon_colors
[CSS/HTML color names]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/CSS/color_value
[Fictional Colors]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_colors#Identified_fictional_colors
[htmlcsscolor.com]: http://www.htmlcsscolor.com/color-names-rgb-values/A
[Military Paint]: http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/colorcodedisplay.cgi?manuf=Military
[Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours]: https://www.c82.net/werner/
[ntc.js]: http://chir.ag/projects/ntc/
[Olympian god colors]: http://www.hellenicgods.org/colors-associated-with-the-olympian-gods
[OSX Crayons]: http://www.randomactsofsentience.com/2013/06/os-x-crayon-color-hex-table.html
[Thailand weekday colors]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colors_of_the_day_in_Thailand
[Wikipedia list of named colors]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colors:_A%E2%80%93F
[Wada Sanzo's list of named colors]: https://sanzo-wada.dmbk.io/
[xkcd color survey list]: https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/