Rarest Hair and Eye Color Combination in Humans 

Have you had the privilege to see people whose hairs and eyes are not commonly seen among men? Yes, there are people like that, but they are very rare. What are the rarest hair and eye color combination in humans?

The distinction of the rarest hair and eye color combination goes to red-haired people whose eyes are colored blue. According to the Medical Daily, red hair and blue eyes are recessive traits. So, the chances of getting both physical characteristics are very slim.

Additionally, the Punnet Square says that red hair and blue eyes will be the rarest combination in humans if accompanied by genotypes or dominant genes. The Punnet Square is a basic square diagram that shows a test cross of paternal and maternal alleles. Alleles are a form of the gene.

Read on to learn more about the rarest hair and eye color combination in humans and why it is so.

Rarest Hair and Eye Color Combination in Humans

rarest hair and eye color combination

Blue-eyed People with Red Hair

The most common hair and eye color combination among people worldwide is black hair and dark brown eyes. But when it comes to designating the rarest hair and eye color in humans, the title goes to blue-eyed people with red hair.

Both Are Recessive Traits

The Medical Daily says that red hair and blue eyes are recessive traits. So, the chances of someone having both physical traits are very slim.

Punnet Square Indicates That Having Both Red Hair and Blue Eyes Is the Most Uncommon

The Punnet Square also appears to indicate the same thing. By referring to this simple square diagram, red hair and blue eyes would be the most uncommon if it occurs in people with genotypes or dominant genes.

The Punnet Square is a square diagram used by biologists to determine the likelihood of an infant having a certain genotype. This diagram can predict the genotypes of a particular breeding or cross experiment.

The Punnet Square is also a scientific and mathematical table that shows how alleles can combine and form phenotypes. It uses the basic rule that dominant alleles rule over the recessive alleles when they combine.

This square displays the probable characteristics of an individual after combining the inherited genes from the parents. Different phenotypes can come out of mixing the genes of both parents. 

Why Having Red Hair and Blue Eyes Is Rare?

The rarest combination of hair and eye color is red hair and blue eyes. There is one type of melanin that causes this genetic variant. It is the reddish pheomelanin. People with red hair typically have abundant reddish pheomelanin, with some eumelanin mixed in.

There are times when the action of the one melanocortin receptor balances the pheomelanin. MC1R is a protein that can be found on melanocyte surfaces.

They are responsible for the color of their eyes, hair, and skin. Usually, red-haired people have brown, green, and hazel eyes. In very rare instances, they will have blue eyes.

Where Do Blue Eyes and Red Hair Come From?

Some reports indicated that Caucasian males are more prone to having blue eyes than Caucasian females. However, it is in Caucasian females where red hair is typically seen.

Currently, no extensive research is done on how many men and women have these physical traits. But it is estimated that about 10% to 30% of redheads are mostly seen in Ireland and Scotland.

On the other hand, those who have blue eyes typically come from Northern Europe, especially in the Baltic Regions.

Can You Be Born with Blonde Hair and Brown Eyes?

How Rare Is Red Hair with Blue Eyes?

Blue eyes and red hair are rare because they are only seen in very few people.

Since an individual inherits these physical traits from their parents, and there is a very slim chance of individuals that have these genes, it can be expected that there will be very few individuals who have these characteristics.

1-2% of People Are Redheads

According to a study conducted by the University of Melbourne, around 1-2% of people are redheads. That’s about 70 million to 140 million people out of the world’s total population.

17% of People Have Blue Eyes

When it comes to blue eyes, it is estimated that about 17% of people in the world have blue eyes. That is approximately 2.9 billion individuals out of 17.6 billion people today.

0.17% of the World’s Population Has Blue Eyes and Red Hair

How rare are red hair and blue eyes? Only an estimated 0.17% of the world’s population has blue eyes and red hair. That is roughly 13 million people around the world. So, with only these few numbers of people, you can easily say that they are the rarest people among us.

Unless you have ancestors who have blue eyes and red hair, the chances of you displaying these traits are very, very slim. It is always the inherited genes that determine your phenotype or your observable physical traits.

Other Rare Hair and Eye Color Combination

rarest hair and eye color combination in humans

Red hair with blue eyes is not the only rarity displayed among people. While it is the rarest combination, there are other rare hair and color combinations displayed by people worldwide.

Let us discuss them now one by one:

1. Brown Hair with Green Eyes

People with brown hair and green eyes can also be considered a rarity because only about 2% of the population has these traits. There are a lot of people with brown hair around the world.

But it is very rare for them to have green eyes. Most of these green-eyed brown-haired people live in the United States, New Zealand, Canada, and some countries in Europe.

2. Blonde Hair with Green Eyes

Another rarity in this world is people with green eyes and blonde hair. Typically, blue eyes disperse some of their blue shade so they may appear green. There is no exact percentage of this group of people yet. However, some people believe that they are a tiny minority of the world’s total population.

3. Red Hair with Green Eyes

People with red hair are relatively rare. The same thing goes with green-eyed people. How rare are red hair and green eyes? Some sources said that only an estimated 2% of green-eyed people today.

So, the combination of green eyes and red hair is very rare. The main reason for this is the recessive alleles of these people.

4. Brown Hair with Amber or Hazel Eyes

The combination of hazel or amber eyes with brown hair is also rare. According to current statistics, only around 5% of the people in this world have this hair and eye color combination.

The number of people with brown hair is relatively small. That is why the combination of amber eyes with brown hair is also rare.

5. Blonde Hair with Blue Eyes

People with blue eyes and blonde hair are also rare. Blonde hair is also a product of recessive genes. Similarly, blue eyes are a rare occurrence caused by a genetic mutation. Most people who have blue eyes with blonde hair live in Europe.

Tech Interactive, a science and technology center, says that a couple who are both brown-eyed and brown-haired can produce a child with blue eyes and blonde hair.

Asian With Blue Eyes – Can This Be Natural?

Again, what is the rarest hair and eye color combination? The rarest eye and hair color combination goes to the blue-eyed people with red hair. The Medical Daily said that these two traits are recessive, so this combination is rare.

Factors that Affect Blue Eyes and Red Hair Combination

As in everything, certain factors determine the emergence of people with blue eyes and red hair. What are these factors?

1. Genetics

Affects a Person’s Hair and Eye Color

A person’s genes heavily affect the color of their eyes and hair. As has already been stated earlier in this article, when the parents of a child have genes associated with blue eyes and red hair, they will inevitably give birth to a child with such traits.

Depends on the Type of Parents’ Alleles

So, the genes that a person inherits will also depend on the type of alleles of their parents. Both eye and hair colors are also very dependent on other variations of the genes.

Eventually, the final result will still depend on the parents’ genes since a person inherits 50% of their genes equally from both parents. So, the parents’ genes can also produce various phenotypes among their children.

So that you can better understand the concept, here are some examples.

Eye Color

  • Father – blue and blue genes (blue is maintained as there is no dominant gene present)
  • Mother – brown and blue genes (brown dominates blue because blue is recessive)

When these two genotypes combine, they will produce the following:

  • Blue-eyed offspring – blue from the father plus red from the mother
  • Brown-eyed offspring – blue from the father plus brown from the mother

In this case, the person’s parents can have offspring with red and brown hair and infants with blue and brown eyes.

Hair Color

  • Father – red and red genes (red is maintained because there is no dominant gene)
  • Mother – red and brown genes (brown dominates red because red is recessive)

Upon the combination of these two genotypes, they will produce the following:

  • Red-haired offspring – red from the father and red from the mother
  • Brown-haired offspring – red from the father and brown from the mother

The result shows that there can be red-haired and brown-haired children from these genotypes. However, the dominant brown can appear more often than red which is recessive. For instance, if the parents have four children, they may have one red-haired child and three brown-haired children.

2. Underlying Conditions

Albinism

If there are certain underlying medical conditions that a person has, they can cause the emergence of rare eye and hair combinations in the children. One example is albinism, a congenital disorder. This is when an individual’s eye and hair colors are lighter due to the low production of melanin in the body.

Heterochromia

Heterochromia is another manifestation of an underlying condition affecting the color of a person’s hair and eyes. This is different because each eye can have a different color.

One eye can be blue, and the other eye can be green or brown. It is an abnormal coloration and is not included in the percentage of those with blue eyes and red hair.

3. Environment

Food and Stress Affects the Formation of Melanin

The environment can also affect the color of a person’s eyes and hair. There are reports which say that food and stress can also influence the formation of melanin in a person as they age. As an individual grows, their melanin level also increases.

This increase is also dependent on the color of the eyes and hair. It also depends on the melanin type that is being developed. For instance, if the level of the eumelanin is less than the amount of the red pheomelanin, red hair will be more pronounced in the person.

Additionally, constant stress is believed to reduce melanin production. If melanin production is abnormal, it can produce lighter colors on the hair, eyes, and skin.

Influence of Food on Eye Color

When it comes to the influence of food, certain food types can affect eye color. What are these food types?

  • Dark berries – these fruits are rich in antioxidants which can increase melanin production in the body, which in turn can produce darker colors for the hair and eyes.
  • Green leafy vegetables – these veggie types can also increase melanin production, encouraging the development of darker colors for the hairs and eyes.
  • Organic honey – based on some research, when a person consumes organic honey continuously, the color of their eyes can lighten.

4. Artificial Means

Colored contact lenses and hair dyes are two of the artificial means to change the color of a person’s eyes and hair. The color change is just temporary. In the case of the hair, the artificial color will disappear when the hair dye wears off.

When the effect of the dye expires, the true color of one’s hair will eventually come out. By using colored contact lenses, a person can instantly change their eye color. The true color of their eyes will be seen once they remove the colored contact lenses.

Can You Acquire Blue Eyes and Red Hair?

rare hair and eye colour combinations

Yes, it is certainly possible. You can display blue eyes and red hair through artificial means. However, being artificial, your eyes and hair color will turn back to their natural state once the artificial means wears out or is removed.

The only natural way to acquire blue eyes and red hair is if the person’s parents have the right genes that can produce red hair and blue eyes in their children. And since people who have these traits are very rare, it is almost impossible to plan for your children to have these hair and eyes colors.

People inherit their genes from their parents. If the parents do not have the ‘blue eyes red hair’ gene variants, there is no way they could have children with blue eyes and red hair. If you want to predict your children’s probable eyes and hair colors, you must use the Punnet Square.

Frequently Asked Questions

The topic of blue eyes and red hair usually sparks so many questions. Read on if you want answers to the most often asked questions about this topic:

What Is the Rarest Eye and Hair Color Combination?

The distinction of being the rarest eye and hair color combination goes to blue eyes and red hair in the natural world. The Medical Daily, a medical journal, says that both red hair and blue eyes are recessive traits.

There is very little chance for both these traits to appear together, but there are people who have blue eyes and red hair. They are among the rarest people in the world.

How Rare Are Blue Eyes and Red Hair in People?

If you consider that only around 1% to 2% of the people around the world have red hair, and only around 17% of humans have blue eyes, you will see how rare blue-eyed and red-haired people are.

Only around 0.17% of the people worldwide have blue eyes and red hair. That is roughly 13 million people worldwide, considering that the total world population is about 7.7 billion. So, with only these few numbers of people, you can easily say that they are the rarest people among us.

What Factors Affect the Blue Eyes and Red Hair Combination in People?

Several factors can influence the color red in hairs and blue in the eyes of humans.

  • Genetics
  • Medical condition
  • Environment
  • Artificial means

In Closing: What Is the Rarest Hair and Eye Color Combination in Humans?

The rarest hair and eye color combination designation goes to blue-eyed people whose hairs are red. Both blue eyes and red hair, according to Medical Daily, are recessive traits. So, the likelihood of someone having both physical traits is very slim.

Out of the total 7.7 billion people globally, only about 0.17% have blue eyes and red hair. So, that is an estimated 13 million people worldwide. Blue-eyed and red-haired people are rare indeed.