Color Name Finder
Find the closest named color match for any hex code.
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to a server.
Royal Blue
Closest named color match
Matches against common CSS named colors using nearest RGB distance — an approximation, not an exact match.
What this tool does
Takes any hex color and finds its closest match among a curated list of 100 common named colors — handy for describing a color in plain language instead of a hex code.
How to use it
Pick a color with the swatch or type a hex code directly. The closest named match, its own hex value, and a copy button for the name update immediately.
Worked example
The default color #3b82f6 (a medium blue) returns "Royal Blue" (#4169e1) as its closest match — the two colors are close in RGB space but not identical, since #3b82f6 has no exact named equivalent in the list.
How the closest match is calculated
Your color's RGB values are compared against all 100 candidates using plain Euclidean distance — the straight-line distance between the two points in RGB space, treating red, green and blue as three coordinate axes. The candidate with the smallest distance wins, with ties broken by whichever color was checked first.
What color list it uses
The list covers 100 recognizable named colors — including the 16 original CSS/HTML color keywords (Black, White, Red, and so on) plus widely known extended names like Tomato, Steel Blue, and Forest Green — rather than the full CSS Color Module's 140+ names, so a match is more likely to be a name people actually recognize.
Limitations
Most hex colors have no exact named counterpart, so the result is always the nearest approximation, not necessarily a close visual match — a color roughly equidistant between two very different named colors can return a name that doesn't feel intuitive. Plain Euclidean RGB distance also doesn't account for how the human eye perceives color differences, which don't scale evenly across the RGB cube.
Privacy and processing
The comparison runs entirely in your browser against the built-in list. The color you enter is never uploaded.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How is the closest match calculated?
- By measuring the Euclidean distance between your color's RGB values and each named color's RGB values — the smallest distance wins.
- Will this always be an exact match?
- No — most hex colors don't have an exact named equivalent, so this returns the closest approximation, not necessarily an exact one.
- What color list does this use?
- A set of common CSS named colors (like Tomato, Steel Blue, Forest Green) rather than the full extended list, to keep matches recognizable.