How Do Paint Colors Get Their Names?

May 6, 2012

What’s in a paint color name?

Whether it’s Harbor Fog, Just Peachy, or Van Buren Brown, an enticing paint color name has the power to excite, persuade, and ultimately close a sale.

But no matter how much Crème Brulee or Butterscotch Tempest may whet your appetite for freshly painted walls, your satisfaction is going to come down to good surface prep, and selecting a top-performing paint.

Do paint names come from thin air?

Creating paint names is more serendipity than science. And, it turns out, no two paint namers name alike.

“There’s no book on this; very few people do this, and we all do things differently,” says Mary Lawlor, manager of color marketing for Kelly-Moore Paints. In a typical year, a professional paint namer may be asked to come up with hundreds of new names — all checked against a master databank of paint names for originality.

Flowers, which stimulate scent and sight, are wellsprings of inspiration. Places, such as the French Riviera or Monte Carlo, evoke enviable lifestyles. And fabrics — satin, cashmere, even mohair — recall texture and feel.

But nothing stimulates the color imagination like food, which adds taste to the mix of memories.