How to Read a Skin’s Full Name: Weapon, Finish, Exterior and Tags

A CS2 skin’s full name packs a lot of information into one line, and once you know the format, you can read it at a glance. This guide breaks the name down piece by piece: the weapon, the finish, the exterior, the StatTrak™ and Souvenir tags, and the star that marks knives and gloves. It also covers the details a name doesn’t tell you, so you know what else to check.

The basic format

Skin names follow the same basic structure:

[StatTrak™ or Souvenir tag] Weapon | Finish (Exterior)

Take “StatTrak™ AK-47 | Redline (Field-Tested)” as an example. Reading from left to right:

1. StatTrak™ is an optional tag. It tells you the item has a kill counter.
2. AK-47 is the weapon the skin is applied to.
3. Redline, after the vertical bar, is the finish: the name of the design.
4. Field-Tested, in brackets, is the exterior: how worn the skin looks.

The vertical bar and the brackets act as separators, so once you know the pattern, each part is easy to pick out. Without the tag, “AK-47 | Redline (Field-Tested)” is the standard version of the same skin. Each part matters, because changing any one of them gives you a different item.

Weapon and finish

The weapon comes first, using its in-game name, such as Glock-18, USP-S, Desert Eagle or AWP. It’s worth reading precisely. The M4A4 and M4A1-S, for example, are different rifles, so the same finish name on each would be two separate items. The rifles category and the other weapon categories group skins by weapon, which makes it easier to compare finishes on the gun you actually use.

The finish follows the vertical bar. Some finish names appear on more than one weapon. Doppler, for instance, is found on many knives, so “★ Karambit | Doppler” and “★ Bayonet | Doppler” share a finish but are different items. Similar-sounding finishes can also be distinct: Doppler and Gamma Doppler are separate finishes, each with its own phases.

The exterior

The exterior in brackets describes how worn the skin looks. It’s set by the item’s float value, a number from 0.00 to 1.00 that is fixed for the life of the item and doesn’t change with use. You’ll often see the exteriors shortened in conversation, so the common abbreviations are included below.

Some finishes have a restricted float range and can’t be Factory New or Battle-Scarred, so not every exterior appears for every skin. If you can’t find a particular exterior for a skin, that may be the reason.

Tags at the front: StatTrak™ and Souvenir

Two tags can appear before the weapon name.

• StatTrak™ means the item tracks the number of confirmed kills the owner gets with that weapon. The counter stays with the item when it changes hands, and kills only count for the owner. On music kits, StatTrak™ counts MVP awards (the round’s most valuable player) instead.
• Souvenir means the item comes from a souvenir package tied to a specific major tournament match. Souvenir items carry a fixed set of tournament stickers from that match.

StatTrak™ and Souvenir never appear on the same item, so a name will show one of these tags or neither, but never both. Because the tag sits at the very front, it’s easy to overlook when you’re scanning a list of similar items. Look for it deliberately, whether you want the counter or would rather avoid paying for a feature you don’t need.

The star: knives and gloves

Knives and gloves show a ★ prefix at the very start of their names. It marks them as rare special items, the tier shown in gold. Here is how that looks in practice:

• “★ Karambit | Doppler (Factory New)”
• “★ StatTrak™ Karambit | Fade (Factory New)”
• “★ Sport Gloves | Vice (Minimal Wear)”

On a StatTrak™ knife, the star comes first, followed by the tag. After that, the weapon part of the name tells you the knife or glove type, such as a Karambit, Butterfly, Bayonet or Talon knife, or Sport, Driver, Specialist or Hand Wraps gloves. Each knife type has its own shape and its own inspect animation. Browse knives and gloves to see the format in action.

What a name doesn’t tell you

The full name identifies which skin an item is, but it doesn’t describe everything about a specific copy. Before you buy, check these details separately:

• Exact float. The exterior is a range, so two Field-Tested copies can have quite different floats.
• Pattern index. A number from 0 to 999 that decides how the finish is placed on the model. It matters most on finishes such as Case Hardened, Fade, Doppler, Crimson Web and Marble Fade.
• Doppler phase or gem, and fade percentage. These describe how a particular Doppler or Fade copy looks and aren’t part of the standard name format.
• Stickers. Which stickers are applied, where they’re positioned and whether they’ve been scraped.
• Name Tags. A Name Tag renames a weapon or knife, so an item may display a custom name. Applying a new Name Tag replaces the old one.

Key takeaways

• Skin names follow the format [StatTrak™ or Souvenir tag] Weapon | Finish (Exterior).
• The exterior in brackets is set by a fixed float value from 0.00 to 1.00.
• StatTrak™ and Souvenir tags never appear on the same item.
• Knives and gloves carry a ★ prefix, which comes before any StatTrak™ tag.
• Float, pattern, phase, stickers and Name Tags need checking separately.

Now that you can read a name at a glance, our guide on how to inspect a skin before you buy shows you what else to check before you add it to your cart.