rebeccapurple

Published 10 years, 5 months past

I have been made aware of the proposal to add the named color beccapurple (equivalent to #663399) to the CSS specification, and also of the debate that surrounds it.

I understand the arguments both for and against the proposal, but obviously I am too close to both the subject and the situation to be able to judge for myself.  Accordingly, I let the editors of the Colors specification know that I will accept whatever the Working Group decides on this issue, pro or con.  The WG is debating the matter now.

I did set one condition: that if the proposal is accepted, the official name be rebeccapurple.  A couple of weeks before she died, Rebecca informed us that she was about to be a big girl of six years old, and Becca was a baby name.  Once she turned six, she wanted everyone (not just me) to call her Rebecca, not Becca.

She made it to six.  For almost twelve hours, she was six.  So Rebecca it is and must be.

Kat and I are deeply touched by all the caring and support from the community, and this proposal does mean a lot to me personally.  It will always mean that, even if the proposal is ultimately declined.  I always thought “it’s an honor to have been nominated” was a pleasant spin on sour grapes, but it’s not.  It really is an honor, regardless of the outcome, even if it is an honor I wish nobody had had cause to think of in the first place.

Thank you all.  For everything.


Update 22 Jun 14: the proposal was approved by the CSS WG and added to the CSS4 Colors module.  Patches to web browsers have already happened in nightly builds.  (I’m just now catching up on this after the unexpected death of Kat’s father early Saturday morning.)

Comments (47)

  1. If Constantinople can be a city, July a month, and Thursday a day, surely rebeccapurple can be a color.

  2. This seems to me to be the equivalent of naming a star after a loved one. It is a beautiful tribute, and even though not everybody gets to have a color named after them, in this case, it’s a moving and thoughtful way for your fellows to acknowledge you and your importance to CSS. And, most importantly, to remember Rebecca.

  3. I so hope that the Working Group accepts this proposal.

  4. Already landed on webkit

    http://trac.webkit.org/changeset/170136

  5. It is the passion and heart that drives the citizens of any generation to build memorials for the causes of their day. In this modern age, “our” materials for memorials are virtual. I am not a developer. But I appreciate what they do no less than the mighty men and women of the past who built our railways and highways, because when it comes down to it–the developers are building our virtual highways to the future. To repeat Wilto, web standards are concerned with — and made up of- people. It is right, and fitting, that #663399 is known to all as rebeccapurple. It is proof positive that communities still can come together, virtual or otherwise, to memorialize the things important to the citizens of the day. A passion for people. Please do this.

  6. A resounding vote for `color: rebeccapurple;` from me. What a privilege it would be for me and so many others to honor her memory in our work.

  7. How can we help?
    count me in, please

  8. Hello,

    I am a passerby in your life, thanks to these posts, which I have read over the past few days. It doesn’t feel fair to me, to feel such a deep sadness, when my experience of reading what amounts to a long journal in the past few days is nothing compared to the past few years of your life. I am commenting now, with a far less graceful command over the English language, to tell you that this blog has changed my life for the better. By sharing your pain, you have also effectively shared your humanity. I vow today, because of you, to appreciate every single second that I am able to share with my beautiful nieces and nephews, all of them under six years old. You made me realize how lucky I am, and how lucky all of us are, to love someone unconditionally. Your entire family will be in my heart forever, and I mean this as sincerely as I’ve ever meant anything. Thank you, so much, SO MUCH, for sharing.

  9. My thoughts go out to you and your family; this story has moved me greatly.

    Thank you for bringing CSS to the masses and improving the web for the rest of us.

  10. Can I vote? I vote yes.

  11. FYI, this will be working soon in the Myth preprocessor (a PR is open https://github.com/segmentio/myth/pull/73 )

  12. Pingback ::

    Bruce Lawson’s personal site  : Reading List

    […] CSS Working Group: Call for consensus: adding ‘rebeccapurple’ color to CSS Color Level 4 in memoriam Rebecca Meyer […]

  13. I too vote Yes. Also happy to see that it has already been included in WebKit. Also thanks Eric for the contribution you have made to the web. Right from your book on CodeIgniter to the CSS reset and your articles, all of them has been an encouragement for us to learn new things and implement it across web sites. Respect !

  14. What a lovely gesture by the masses. Bless.

  15. I have the Mozilla Firefox source I pulled from the mercurial repos– I am editing the aurora branch and will start over with rebeccapurple instead of becca.

    Could anyone that already has commit privileges contact me for the updates? It might be a while after I am done before I can put the changes through.

  16. I love the color. Used it in the header of this page for the summer. Nothing wrong with a color value expressing more than machine notation. It can be a semiotic. It can have semantic value.

  17. This is stupid. People die. Some young. Some tragically. This sets a port precedent that anyone with a sob story can have a color named after them.

    Name the street where she lived after her, her school, but this has nothing to do with the web, programming, or anything else in anyone else’s life.

  18. Pingback ::

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  19. Congratulations on having the proposal accepted! Just a fitting way to have Rebecca forever embedded in our lives.

  20. Eric, I have known your name for many years, but this is the first time I have visited your site.
    I am truly sorry to read of Rebecca’s passing.

    As we say in Israel – “May the Heavens comfort you” (though we say it in Hebrew…).
    Our words probably cannot give consolation, but know that He in Heaven can, and will, console you all – at the same time without taking away any off the happiness – or sadness – that Rebecca brought into your lives.

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  22. I can’t even read a few sentences without crying. All the best for you and may your little princess rest in piece. At my dad’s funeral I said: as long as there’s someone thinking of you you are still alive for me. I don’t know if you believe in God, but … may he bless You and Your family … :(

  23. Kat, I don’t know you at all but I am sending you all the strength you can muster. This month has not been kind to you and your family and I’m so sorry.

  24. God save your souls. Even the death of Rebecca was more than anybody could imagine.

    Thinking of you…

  25. I know it’s late but:

    May HaShem comfort you, your wife and the other children among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

    You have given so much to so many, and I know how very very hard things are right now. She was such a lovely child. I feel your loss and am very glad that RebeccaPurple got through.

  26. Pingback ::

    rebeccapurple added to the CSS specification. - EpicWebs

    […] http://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2014/06/19/rebeccapurple/ […]

  27. Sorry to hear about your loss. A color in her honor is I’m sure a pale tribute to her, but it is a heartfelt tribute from a community that has been inspired and helped so much through your work. As a father, I deeply sympathize.

    Sincerely,
    Chris van Hasselt

  28. What a wonderful idea to name a color after Rebecca. She probably never knew what a huge impact you have had on the development and evolution of CSS and the way browsers “see” colors. This little gift to you in her name from the W3C and CSS community is so beautifully appropriate. I will think of her and your family every time I see #663399. :-)

  29. Yesterday evening I drove through fields of rye the colour of light purple from masses of rye flowers in the setting sun. That made me think of Rebecca. Of course I never knew her – or as of yet – any of you in person but it still made the moment more special.
    I hope you don’t mind me sharing this with you.

  30. Pingback ::

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    […] Aggiornamento del 19/06/2014 WebKit è quel componente del browser (Safari e Opera) che interpreta le pagine web. Dal 18 giugno questo motore di rendering riconosce il nome “rebeccapurple” come nome utile a contrassegnare la tripletta esadecimale #663399. Il nome dunque risulta essere stato modificato rispetto alla proposta originaria (da “beccapurple” a “rebeccapurple”). Questa, del resto, è stata l’unica condizione che Eric Meyer ha posto nel caso in cui si proc…. […]

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    […] Rebeccapurple: As mentioned above, this colour was named after a girl who died very young. There is a touching story written by someone close to her here: http://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2014/06/19/rebeccapurple/ […]

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  46. I like to demo things that I’m explaining on Codepen. My default focus outline color for these demos is rebeccapurple. I also include a link to this post in a CSS comment. To this day, when I call out this Easter egg, and tell the story of where rebeccapurple came from, I tear up. And I’m 100% ok with it, every time.

  47. Purple has always been my favorite color, and I rediscovered my appreciation for it with the recent updates to CSS. Now, as I recently turned 19, I find myself holding dearly of RebeccaPurple. May Allah bless you, your family and Rebecca with endless grace and beauty, like the vibrant blooms of rebeccapurple flowers.

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