Color is a fundamental part of our visual experience. We see color all around us – in nature, art, design, clothes, products, and more. With so many colors to perceive and describe, a natural question arises: does every color have a name?
In short, no – not every single color perceptible to the human eye has been named. However, humans have named thousands of colors over history using basic color terms, elaborate descriptive names, and systematic color order systems. So while not exhaustive, the color lexicon we have developed allows us to describe and communicate about color with great specificity.
To understand why not every color has a formal name, we need to first understand some basics about color and human color perception.
The Science of Color Perception
What we perceive as color is visible light with properties of hue, saturation, and brightness. The human eye can detect wavelengths of visible light ranging approximately from 380-740 nanometers. All the myriad colors we see are combinations of wavelengths within this range.
Inside the eye, cells called cones are responsive to red, green, and blue wavelengths. The cones send signals to the brain, which interprets combinations of cone responses as color sensations. With three types of cones, the number of possible color experiences is extremely large.
However, human color perception is subjective and relative. We do not all perceive color in exactly the same way. Factors like biological variation, age, gender, culture, language, and more influence subtle differences in color vision. Context also matters – the same color can appear different against different backgrounds.
So while the human visual system is sophisticated and discerns millions of colors, assigning consistent names to each perceivable color is challenging. As we will see, color naming systems accommodate this limitation in different ways.
Basic Color Terms
Every culture throughout history has developed names for colors using basic color terms. These are single word terms like “red”, “green”, “blue” that refer unambiguously to color.
Research by Berlin and Kay in 1969 analyzed basic color terms across cultures and found universal patterns. They proposed that color naming evolves through stages, starting with words for white/black and red. As more terms are needed, they emerge in a general sequence:
1. White/black
2. Red
3. Green/yellow
4. Blue
5. Brown
6. Purple, pink, orange, grey
Nearly all languages end up with 11 or 12 basic color terms. English uses all 11: white, black, red, green, yellow, blue, brown, pink, orange, purple and grey.
So basic color terms provide a way to succinctly identify colors commonly perceived and distinguished within a culture. But with only 11 or so names, they lack specificity. For example, “green” encompasses many shades ranging from yellow-green to blue-green. More elaborate color names are needed to describe nuanced hues.
Elaborate Color Names
To specify colors more precisely, elaborate descriptive names can be constructed, like “forest green” or “burnt sienna.”
Poetic color names are sometimes invented by marketing companies to appeal to emotions and aesthetics associated with colors, like “Apple Red” or “Sunshine Yellow.”
Metaphorical descriptions also capture the essence of colors – “orange like a traffic cone” or “blue reminiscent of a clear afternoon sky.”
Other languages have more extensive basic color vocabularies capable of finer distinctions. For example, Russian differentiates between lighter blues (“goluboy”) and darker blues (“siniy”).
So by creatively combining basic color terms with descriptive modifiers, similes, and metaphors, any perceivable color can be distinguished in language – if not uniquely named. However, systematic color order systems aim to provide definitive, absolute names for large numbers of colors.
Color Order Systems
Color order systems categorize colors based on an underlying logic or structure. They provide standard, systematic ways to name or specify colors precisely.
Some important examples include:
| System | Description |
|---|---|
| RYB | Colors categorized into primary (red, yellow, blue), secondary (orange, green, purple) and tertiary colors. |
| Pantone Matching System | Proprietary standard of printing inks, each represented by a unique numbered code. |
| Natural Color System (NCS) | Colors specified by percentages of chromatic colors (like red, yellow, blue) mixed with black and white. |
| Munsell Color System | Colors mapped in a 3D space based on hue, chroma (saturation), and value (brightness). |
These systems allow many thousands of precisely defined, named colors to be documented. However, any attempt to comprehensively name EVERY perceptible color quickly runs into the limitations of human color perception.
The Limitations of Color Naming
While color order systems expand the lexicon substantially, the number of nameable colors is not infinite.
One issue is discretizing a continuous phenomenon. The visible spectrum is not segmented – it is a continuous distribution of wavelengths. Dividing it into named categories involves decisions about where boundaries are drawn. Different systems carve up the spectrum differently.
Equally important is the subjective nature of human color perception. As described earlier, many biological, contextual and cultural factors cause us to perceive color differently. A color that appears vividly distinct to one person may be imperceptible to another.
Lastly, the number of colors discernible to the human eye is estimated to be around 10 million. But studies show the maximum number of colors people can consistently identify and name is likely around 30,000. This limit arises from short-term memory constraints. We can only hold a finite number of color representations in mind at once.
So while 10 million may be physiologically distinguishable, 30,000 is around the upper bound for uniquely naming colors in practice before indistinguishable interference sets in. Even optimal color order systems do not come close to this size.
Conclusion
In summary, while no system has named every single perceptible color, humans have made great progress in systematically organizing and prescribing color. Modern color order systems provide standardized specifications for thousands of precise colors, far exceeding basic color terms.
However, definitive color naming is constrained by the continuous, subjective nature of color perception and limitations of memory and cognition. Communication about color relies not just on formal names, but also descriptive comparisons, metaphors and context.
So in practice, meaningful color naming does not require every color to have a formal name. Our elaborate shared color lexicon allows us to differentiate, characterize, and convey color in endlessly nuanced ways. While not exhaustive, it enables us to effectively share color experiences within the bounds of our perception.
