Design Token Naming

Design tokens are the atomic values — color, typography, spacing, and more — that anchor a design system across design tooling, code, and theming. A naming convention is what makes that shared vocabulary actually shared: an ad hoc name only means something to the person who wrote it, while a structured one tells every consumer what it is, where it applies, and whether a more specific alternative already exists. This skill applies Nathan Curtis' (EightShapes) naming convention from "Naming Tokens in Design Systems" and his 2023 Smashing Magazine design systems workshop — the same convention used in production by systems like REI's Cedar Design System.

Naming Structure

Each token name is composed of optional and required levels, always in this order: