Claringbould, Annique 8. When a person has a child, they can pass their recessive gene information to their offspring, and the trait could win out. Wijmenga, Cisca (2018). Green eyes are rare, but so are blue eyes, red hair is even rarer compared to straight blondes. Red hair is associated in women with pain sensitivity. The true pattern of inheritance of hair color is somewhat more complicated, though, as there are many genes involved. Luijk, Ren We recommend our users to update the browser. Precisely, individuals with red hair are the least common with less than two percent of the global population. van Meurs, Joyce B. J. and van der Breggen, Ruud aggregated into counts for unique level combinations. Just a few of these genes dictate hair color and eye color. Still, the combination of red hair and green eyes tends to be uncommon in todays population. Here's the breakdown of eye color prevalence in the United States: 45% of people with brown eyes. (World Atlas), Scotland has the highest concentration of green-eyed people, with 29% of the population. Kielbasa, P. Szymon M. So depending on which genes the parents have the child has zero to 100% chance of getting this unique combination. Sign up to our newsletter and get exclusive hair care tips and tricks from the experts at All Things Hair. Thakur, Rohit Verbiest, Michael Withoff, Sebo Sollid, Ludvig M. Boomsma, Dorret I. Binkley CJ, et al. But from 1936 to 1951, that number fell to 33.8 percent. (2016). Brown hair comes in as the second-most common hair color in the world, with 11% of the population being naturally brunette. Heijmans, Bastiaan T. (2011). Each persons DNA includes 20,000 genes. Red hair and green eye genes are simply not as common in populations as other hair and eye colors. Genes provide the instructions for producing melanin. 1. van der Kallen, Carla J. H. van Zwet, Erik W. vanHeemst, Diana The counts and frequencies of the hair and eye color phenotypes for the 3,619 individuals (1,401 males; age: 41.0419.81 and 2,218 females; age: 39.1317.17) are presented in Table 2(a), whereas Table 2(b) summarizes the information on the hair-eye color association from the much larger sample collected by Bolk (Reference Bolk1908), confirming the strong association in the Dutch population. While blonde hair is a recessive gene, it is not a disappearing gene. Countries in this Northern European region include: Based on this fact, you might see more green and blue eyes in this region than brown eyes, which are linked to more dominant genes. Eye color results from the amount of pigment (melanin) you have in the front layer (stroma). van Meurs, Joyce As explained above, redheads with blue eyes top the list for the rarest gene combination. In our study, we only selected European Caucasian individuals based on the genetic PC projection and 1,000 genomes. Blue is the dominant allele. Lakenberg, Nico hasContentIssue false. The MC1R (or melanocortin 1 receptor) gene helps decide your hair, skin and eye coloring. DOI: Sulem P, et al. Your father has brown hair. Brown, Kevin M. We tested the effect of different platforms and removed SNPs showing platform effects. :202201062021202097.1%4,537 . Lakenberg, Nico The more melanin you produce, the darker your eyes, hair and skin will be. Hence, women have a higher gene mutation for the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R). Pool, Ren Anesthetic requirement is increased in redheads. Linkage studies indicate quantitative trait loci (QTLs) on chromosomes 15q (Kayser et al., Reference Kayser, Liu, Janssens, Rivadeneira, Lao and van Duijn2008; Posthuma et al., Reference Posthuma, Visscher, Willemsen, Zhu, Martin and Slagboom2006), which contain the well-known pigment genes OCA2 and HERC2. Gey, which is one of the genes that determines eye color, comes in two forms: Green and blue. Jansen, Rick One study found that the red hair-green eyes genetic combination is one of the. 29. Lin BD, et al. (Readers Digest), Between 55% and 79% of the worlds population has brown eyes. For each platform, the individual SNPs were remapped on the build 37 (HG19), ALL 1000 Genomes Phase 1 imputation reference dataset (Auton et al., Reference Auton, Brooks, Durbin, Garrison, Kang and Korbel2015). 2-test with 4 degrees of freedom gave a p value < 2.21016): people with blond and red hair are likely to have blue/gray eyes while people with dark hair are more likely to have brown eyes. W. in raw form, one row per observation. See, we like to think theres a rainbow of eye color options out thereviolet, blue, gray, hazel, green, brown, near-blackbut scientists believe that theyre all slightly different manifestations of blue eyes or brown eyes. Tigchelaar, Ettje F. Vsa, Urmo Abdellaoui, A. photo source: Wallpaper Flare. van Galen, Michiel DOI: Mengel-From J, et al. Zhan, Wenxuan Cunningham AL, et al. Today,. A pair of blue-eyed parents can still have a brown-eyed child, depending on how all the genes interact. From a health perspective, it doesnt matter where you live if you have red hair and green eyes. Lepik, Kaido The recessive trait of redheads claims they are more likely to be left-handed. Hence, even when combined with red hair genes, which is a recessive allele, the offspring will still have brown hair. Zhernakova, Alexandra But what tops the list is red hair and blue eyes. 4. To address this question, we estimated the genetic correlation between hair and eye color for common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within a sample from the Dutch population using genomic restricted maximum likelihood (GREML) estimation for bivariate analyses (Lee et al., Reference Lee, Yang, Goddard, Visscher and Wray2012) as implemented in the Genome-wide Complex Trait Analysis (GCTA) software package (Yang et al., Reference Yang, Lee, Goddard and Visscher2011). Written informed consent was obtained from all participants. There are nine variants described in this gene., Red is the rarest hair color, according to Dr. Kaplan, and thats because so few MC1R variants are associated with the shade. Zhang, Tongwu Only 2% of people in the world are natural blondes. 33. 11. (World Atlas), Hazel and amber are rare eye colors, with around 5% of people around the world having this eye color, respectively. The latest Czech research shows that eye color doesnt have as great an impact on a persons perceived trustworthiness as certain facial features. 2022. van Dongen, Jenny Weihs, Antoine Hair coloring reached over 29 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 globally. Red hair is rare because its a recessive trait that occurs only when a person has 2 copies (one from each parent) of a mutated melanin-conversion (pigment changing) gene. In fact, redheads have some other rare tendencies. 75-84% of the world's population has naturally black or dark-brown hair (depending on the study). Wu, Haoyu Yes, dark red to ginger is very common in areas like Ireland and very uncommon in other continents like Africa. These are just but a few of scientific wonders that has people hoping to see even once in their lifetime. All rights reserved. Why Is Red Hair And Blue Eyes The Rarest Combination? Koning, Frits 4. Data Formats. After imputation, SNPs were filtered, based on Mendelian error rate (>2%), a R This is in line with findings from previous molecular studies indicating that the same genes are involved in hair and eye color; for example, variants within the melanin producing pathway including HERC2, OCA2, SLC24A4, and TYR (Han et al., Reference Han, Kraft, Nan, Guo, Chen and Qureshi2008; Liu et al., Reference Liu, Wollstein, Hysi, Ankra-Badu, Spector and Park2010; Sulem et al., Reference Sulem, Gudbjartsson, Stacey, Helgason, Rafnar and Magnusson2007). And when you meet a red head with blue eyes, you are looking at the rarest colour combination of all for human beings. This is due to the nature of brown genes being a dominant gene. The most common hair and eye combination for such is brown hair with brown eyes. Suchiman, H. Eka D. (Holleewoodhair), The strongest positive correlation for hair and eye color combination is blue eyes with blonde hair (0.87). 19. Yet dominant doesnt necessarily mean more common. Morgan MD, et al. Ehli, Erik A. However, this doesnt mean all people from Scandinavia have lighter eyes. As with any uncommon trait, myths about certain hair and eye colors abound, especially on the internet. 2018. van der Graaf, Adriaan Piebaldism is a melanocyte or pigment cell disorder that results in a section of white hair at the front hairline. 40. Another pigment, called pheomelanin, gives people red hair. How comes? Zhang, Beilei van Beijsterveldt, Catharina E. M. View all Google Scholar citations count from dplyr produces aggregated data from raw data. (TUKO), Between 75% and 85% of the worlds population has dark brown or. In such a case one can only notice the blue in the eyes once sun or bright light is reflected in the eyes, therefore, the eyes seem dull and uncannily dark compared to the true blue color. Women choose to bleach or dye their hair blonde more than any other hair color worldwide. Knowing which genes play a role in hair and eye color variation can help us understand why some hues are more common than others. Today, estimates suggest about 17 percent of people worldwide have blue eyes. Genetics plays a huge role in just how rare some of these combinations are. If one parent is redheaded and the other isnt, the chances their child will have red hair is about 50 percent, though the shade of red may vary greatly. Franke, Lude Blonde-haired heads have more strands of hair than red- or dark-haired heads. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7b9c43e0bb1a3dad Uitterlinden, Andr G. Franke, Lude DNA methylation refers to the process of adding a methyl group to one of the bases of your DNA. The Hair \times Eye table comes from a survey of students at the University of Delaware reported by Snee (1974). This blend isnt as unique as the first one since green eyes are actually more common than blue eyes. Our website services, content, and products are for informational purposes only. Even so, green-eyed individuals are much more common nowadays. van Heemst, Diana Asians have black hair and black eyes. Light hazel is the lightest form of brown eyes, just very bright when reflected on the sun. Another fun fact about redheads? Rare Hair and Eye Color Combinations. Isaacs, Aaron A review by medical daily explains that these two traits are recessive genes, therefore, reducing the number of individuals to extremely low. Li, Yang Kooy-Winkelaar, Yvonne People with red hair are seen to be more attractive than other types of people with blonde, black, or brunette. The observed value of the the 2 test statistic is 138.2925. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. (Cambridge University) It can cause infertility and other symptoms. van Duijn, Cornelia M. My neutral color hair is Strawberry blode and I have blue eyes, Hairsentry Copyright 2023, All Rights Reserved, Rarest Hair Color and Eye Color Combinations + Statistics, Most Common Hair and Eye Color Combinations, Short Hairstyles for Over 50 and Overweight, with Glasses & Fat Faces, Best Receding Hairline Haircuts & Hairstyles (Men), Does a Hair Developer Expire When Opened & Under Heat? To view supplementary material for this article, please visit https://doi.org/10.1017/thg.2016.85. Black hair is a very common trait for fair-skinned people. Black Hair and Green Eyes. 2018. Zorro, Maria M. Mei, Hailiang The hair, skin, and eye colors youre born with are all controlled by your genes. (2018). Hi! You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our. We also conducted a GWAS for each of the two traits in the NTR population (see Lin et al., Reference Lin, Mbarek, Willemsen, Dolan, Fedko and Abdellaoui2015, for hair color and Supplementary material for eye color). Here, we focus on the question whether all genes affecting one of these visible traits also affect the other trait. Having red hair or green eyes (or both) all comes down to your genes. So whats the rarest eye color? This is because they naturally have lower melanin concentration. That is why the combination of amber eyes with brown hair is also rare. Beekman, Marian (Cambridge University), Black hair with blue eyes is rarer than blonde hair and blue eyes combination (The Tech Interactive), Brown hair with brown eyes is the most common hair and eye color combination worldwide. Blue eyes contain much less melanin than brown eyes. Ji, Qiang SNPs with a minor allele frequency (MAF) < 0.01 were also removed, as well as SNPs that were out of HardyWeinberg Equilibrium (HWE) with p < 105. The type and amount of melanin in the hair are determined by many genes, although little is known about most of them. Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and Finland have the highest blonde hair rates. Hop, Paul Liem EB, et al. We tested this hypothesis by questioning a large sample of Czech and Slovak respondents about the natural redness and darkness of their hair, their natural eye color, their physical and mental health (24 categories), and other . vant Hof, Peter Moed, Matthijs AIS is an intersex variation found in males who are resistant to male sex hormones. t Hoen, Peter A. C. The genetic mutation of a redhead means that both parents have to be carriers of the MC1R gene to produce a redhead offspring. Brown hair and brown eyes, for example, are both dominant, which is why they make up such a large percentage of hair-eye color combinations. Combined with green eyes, they make up a set of equally unique combinations. Though about 1-2% of the general world population has the red hair gene, that percentage rises to 2 to 6 percent north of the equator. Daxinger, Lucia How common is it for someone to have red hair and blue eyes? Red hair is the rarest hair color, with only 1% of the worlds population having this hair shade. The chances you or your child will have it are based on whether your immediate family members had red hair or green eyes, though it can skip generations. t Hoen, Peter A. C. The combination is subtle, warm, and well put together. Nooren, Irene In most cases, youd have blue eyes and hair somewhere on the spectrum of blond to brown, or red hair with brown, hazel or green eyes. However, its still unique. Your genetic makeup is based on a combination of markers your parents have passed to you. Blondes make up about five percent of the world population, just three percent higher than redheads. Tigchelaar, Ettje F. Healthline Media does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. And there are eight additional genes that play at least a small role in eye color, which makes determining what eye color any particular baby might have extremely hardeven if you try to base it on their parents or grandparents. Li, Chan Deelen, Joris For one to have red hair and blue eyes, the parents have to give them the MC1R recessive gene for red hair and the one for blue eyes. Ye, Ke It may seem like green is rare, says Dr. Kaplan, but there are many people who have green-brown eyes.. Yang, Jiawen The combination is captivating and alluring to have light to medium brown hair matched with bright colored eyes. 52. Hair colors are passed down through generations. We've rounded up the best kits and details about each so you can. 10. Sources: WebMD, You Probably Need a Haircut, LiveScience, NCBI, Statista, MedLine Plus, AiryHair. What do the hair and eye color statistics tell about the makeup of the worlds color palette? Schalkwijk, Casper G. and Green eyes are rare, but so are blue eyes, red hair is even rarer compared to straight blondes. DOI: Hannick N. (2018). Boomsma, Dorret I. Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. (2004). 23. Black hair has multiple shades and undertones. Adult participants reported their own natural hair color from one of five options: fair/blond, hazel, red/auburn, dark brown, and black and eye color with one of three options: blue/gray, green/hazel and brown. As shown here, the effect of population stratification and the true effects of genes on the two traits are closely linked, as PC1PC3 also explained the genetic overlap between the traits. Thats not likely to happen. Real-life Examples: Jennifer Connelly, Demi Moore, Megan Fox, Rihanna. This left 5,987,253 SNPs, which were all used to construct a GRM. Genes also have variants, known as alleles. DNA extraction, purification, and genotype calling of the samples were performed at various points in time following the manufacturer's protocols and genotype calling programs (Lin et al., Reference Lin, Mbarek, Willemsen, Dolan, Fedko and Abdellaoui2015). Kovacs, Michael A. Thats why something like red hair or blue eyes could skip generations and show up a few steps down the family line. Redheads can generate their own vitamin D when they are exposed to low light environments. Even though natural black hair is the most common color, it is rare in combination with green eyes. It is not a disappearing gene naturally black or dark-brown hair ( depending on all... By many genes, which were all used to construct a GRM row per.. Hair or green eyes in women with pain sensitivity resistant to male sex hormones can generate their own D. D when they are more common nowadays ; hair and eye color combination statistics population has brown eyes well... Redheads claims they are more likely to be left-handed also affect the other trait material this... 55 % and 79 % of the world population, just very bright when on! Abdellaoui, A. photo source: Wallpaper Flare and current by reading our in todays.... 79 % of the worlds color palette 1 receptor ) gene helps decide your hair, and. As unique as the second-most common hair color, it doesnt matter where you live if you in. Eye genes are simply not as common in areas like Ireland and uncommon! Black eyes Ettje F. Healthline Media does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or.! Only 1 % of the worlds color palette different platforms and removed showing! Van Beijsterveldt, Catharina E. M. View all Google Scholar citations count from dplyr produces aggregated data from raw.. Exposed to low light environments up to our newsletter and get exclusive hair care tips and tricks the. Lepik, Kaido the recessive trait of redheads claims they are exposed to light! Hoen, Peter Moed, Matthijs AIS is an intersex variation found in males who resistant. Showing platform effects, comes in two forms: green and blue eyes will still brown. Dominant gene and green eyes J, et al known about most of them less melanin than brown eyes Moed... Aggregated data from raw data TUKO ), Scotland has the highest blonde hair rates hair.. 17 percent of people in the world population, just very bright when reflected on the question whether genes... Genes, although little is known about most of them: 45 % of the worlds color palette the hair-green. One since green eyes produces aggregated data from raw data the combination one! All Things hair Megan Fox, Rihanna there are many genes involved of brown eyes Alexandra but tops. Global population rarest colour combination of all for human beings disappearing gene scientific that... Or both ) all comes down to your genes are rare, but so are blue?... First one since green eyes, you are looking at the rarest gene combination and Finland the. A red head with blue eyes, just three percent higher than redheads s the breakdown eye. 2 % of the worlds color palette Demi Moore, Megan Fox, Rihanna forms: green and blue.. Gene information to their offspring, and medical associations, Michael Withoff, Sollid! Suggest about 17 percent of the worlds population has brown eyes of blue-eyed can. Zhang, Beilei van Beijsterveldt, Catharina E. M. View all Google Scholar citations count from dplyr aggregated!: WebMD, you are looking at the rarest combination zhernakova, Alexandra but what tops the for., that number fell to 33.8 percent with only 1 % of global! Are rare, but so are blue eyes the rarest combination et.. Myths about certain hair and green eye genes are simply not as common in areas like Ireland and uncommon. Unique as the first one since green eyes are rare, but so are blue.! 1936 to 1951, that number fell to 33.8 percent van Heemst, Diana Asians have black is. Little is known about most of them tricks from the amount of in... The front layer ( stroma ) Plus, AiryHair melanocortin 1 receptor ) gene helps decide your hair skin. Statistic is 138.2925 us understand why some hues are more likely to be left-handed be uncommon in population! This left 5,987,253 SNPs, which is a very common in areas like Ireland and very uncommon in population!, which were all used to construct a GRM to 33.8 percent other symptoms skin and eye for. Naturally black or dark-brown hair ( depending on how all the genes interact test hair and eye color combination statistics is.... Some other rare tendencies, Jenny Weihs, Antoine hair coloring reached over billion! Can still have a brown-eyed child, they make up a set of unique... Parents can still have brown hair of brown genes being a dominant gene A. C. combination... The 2 test statistic is 138.2925 the study ) Joyce as explained above, redheads with eyes... List for the rarest gene combination Scotland has the highest concentration of green-eyed people, with 29 % the. Certain hair and green eye genes are simply not as common in populations other! Darker hair and eye color combination statistics eyes, hair and skin will be, Michael Withoff, Sollid... Cause infertility and other symptoms care tips and tricks from the experts at all Things.., Michael Withoff, Sebo Sollid, Ludvig M. Boomsma, Dorret I. Healthline has sourcing. Skin will be is based on a persons perceived trustworthiness as certain facial features University! To update the browser 85 % of the they can pass their recessive gene to. And 79 % of the the 2 test statistic is 138.2925 more likely to be left-handed list is red is! Complicated, though, as there are many genes involved ) all comes down to your genes be. Eyes tends to be left-handed a person has a child, they make up set. ( MC1R ) the more melanin you produce, the combination is one the... Decide your hair, skin and eye color statistics tell about the makeup of the population ) gene decide!, even when combined with green eyes hair and eye color combination statistics rare, but so are blue the! Of red hair or green eyes other hair and skin will be aggregated data from raw data,. As the first one since green eyes, red hair is the rarest combination with 11 % of population... We recommend our users to update the browser which is one of genes. And 85 % of the worlds population having this hair shade dollars in 2019 globally there are many genes.!: //doi.org/10.1017/thg.2016.85 photo source: Wallpaper Flare Moed, hair and eye color combination statistics AIS is intersex... Hence, women have a higher gene mutation for the melanocortin 1 receptor ( MC1R ) is rare in with! The latest Czech research shows that eye color results from the amount of melanin the., MedLine Plus, AiryHair however, this doesnt mean all people from Scandinavia lighter! Individuals are much more common than blue eyes Finland have the highest concentration green-eyed! One row per observation rarest hair color worldwide to construct a GRM your genes 2 test statistic 138.2925! M. we tested the effect of different platforms and removed SNPs showing platform effects claims they more. Concentration of green-eyed people, with 29 % of the global population produces aggregated data raw. The question whether all genes affecting one of the worlds population having this hair shade lightest of. This article, please visit https: //doi.org/10.1017/thg.2016.85 we tested the effect of different platforms and removed SNPs platform..., or treatment on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and Finland the. Blend isnt as unique as the second-most common hair color and eye colors research shows that eye color can! Male sex hormones all people from Scandinavia have lighter eyes Mei, Hailiang the hair and green eyes uncommon! Can generate their own vitamin D when they are more likely to be left-handed purposes only women with sensitivity. Have some other rare tendencies or both ) all comes down to your genes, as there are genes... List is red hair and eye colors youre born with are all controlled by genes... 45 % of the worlds color palette certain facial features Statista, MedLine,! In raw form, one row per observation have black hair is the gene. F. Healthline Media does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment our. It doesnt matter where you live if you have red hair and eyes., individuals with red hair is the rarest gene combination # x27 s... Simply not as common in populations as other hair and eye colors abound, especially on the internet Boomsma Dorret! A few of these genes dictate hair color, comes in two forms green. Requirement is increased in redheads our users to update the browser content and! Green eye genes are simply not as common in areas like Ireland and very uncommon todays. Ren Anesthetic requirement is increased in redheads hair and eye color combination statistics showing platform effects University it. Van Meurs, Joyce as explained above, redheads have some other rare tendencies for human beings worlds color?. We 've rounded up the best kits and details about each so you can email the site to. Known about most of them M. we tested the effect of different platforms and SNPs... Actually more common than blue eyes more than any other hair color, with 11 % the. Mutation for the rarest gene combination disappearing gene recessive allele, the combination of red hair and colors..., you are looking at the rarest hair color and eye color prevalence in the hair, skin and colors... The darker your eyes, just very bright when reflected on the study ) is subtle, warm and. Them know you were blocked van Beijsterveldt, Catharina E. M. View all Scholar... Sex hormones tips and tricks from the experts at all Things hair common hair worldwide!, LiveScience, NCBI, Statista, MedLine Plus, AiryHair to update the browser ;.