Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Check Out Manta Sleep here: mantasleep.pxf.io/Qjq9yz and use the code HISTORY at checkout to get 10% off your order.
The Hidden Links Between Hair Color & Ancestry… Red, Blond, Brown etc…
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:14 Red Hair & Ancestry
3:57 Manta Sleep
4:41 Blond/Blonde Hair & Ancestry
7:13 Brown Hair & Ancestry
9:07 Black Hair & Ancestry
What if your hair color holds a secret, passed down through thousands of years of ancestry? From fiery reds in Scotland to golden blond shades in Scandinavia, every color tells a story. So in this video we are going to explore the fascinating links between hair color and ancestry.
Now there are 4 main natural hair colors, each with several shades. Black is the most common hair color in the world, at around 75-85% of the population. The second most common is brown, at 11-15% of people. Blond is much rarer. Only 2-3% of people around the world have natural blond hair, and red is the rarest hair color on earth, found in only 1-2% of people. Certain colors like auburn blend red and brown tones, but auburn hair is not considered a separate category. Obviously people of a certain age also develop gray or white hair a lot of the time, but their original hair color was within these 4 types. People with albinism also typically have very light or white hair. This is caused by genetic mutations resulting in little to no melanin being produced.
But let’s focus on these 4 main hair colors and their links to your ancestry, and let me know what your hair color and ancestry is in the comments below. First up is the rarest hair color in the world, red hair, but what causes this color? Well red heads have a variant of the melanocortin-1 receptor gene (or MC1R) located on chromosome 16. This is involved in melanin production and is the primary driver of red hair, although other genes do play a role. It’s color comes from varying levels of different types of melanin. Red heads have high levels of the reddish pigment, pheomelanin, and relatively low levels of the dark pigment, eumelanin. Red hair is also considered a recessive trait, so you need to inherit one mutated MC1R allele from each parent to have red hair.
Now look at this table. It shows the regions of the world with the most amount of people with naturally red hair. As you can see, it is most common in Europe at around 4-6% of the population. Yet it is also at similar levels in North America which is interesting, and this is due to the European influence, especially people of Scottish and Irish descent. And this table shows the countries that have the most red heads on earth. As you can see, Scotland and Ireland are at the top, with another Celtic speaking people also relatively high, the Welsh.
Sources:
Morgan, M.D., Pairo-Castineira, E., Rawlik, K. et al. Genome-wide study of hair colour in UK Biobank explains most of the SNP heritability. Nat Commun 9, 5271 (2018). doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07691-z
Neanderthals didn't give us red hair but they certainly changed the way we sleep
Percentage of Redheads by Country 2025
Red hair - Wikipedia
Blonde is the UK's number 1 dyed hair colour of choice
The Origin of Blond Afros in Melanesia | Science | AAAS
Blond - Wikipedia
Blonde Hair Percentage by Country 2025
Brown hair - Wikipedia
What Percentage of the World's Population Has Brown Hair? - WorldAtlas
The Most Common Hair Color Isn't Blonde | HowStuffWorks
Black hair - Wikipedia
How Many People in the World Have Black Hair? - WorldAtlas
Is hair color determined by genetics?: MedlinePlus Genetics
Creative Commons Imagery:
World map: DalGobboM - Phenotype map: Andrea Hanel, Carsten Carlberg File:Archaeogenetic analysis of human skin pigmentation in Europe (with Asia geographic extension).png - Wikimedia Commons Skin colour and vitamin D: An update Andrea Hanel, Carsten Carlberg First published: 03 July 2020 FOCUS THEME ISSUE: REVIEW ARTICLE File:Archaeogenetic analysis of human skin pigmentation in Europe.jpg - Wikimedia Commons doi.org/10.1111/exd.14142 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International - Creative Commons Branch for the Tarim mummies population added per recent research and mapping (11 November 2021). "The unexpected ancestry of Inner Asian mummies". Nature 599 (7884): 204–206. DOI:10.1038/d41586-021-02872-1. ISSN 0028-0836.
Graham Crumb from Port Vila, Vanuatu File:Blonde girl Vanuatu.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic - Creative Commons
Hair Color Ancestry – Red Hair Origins & Most Popular Countries – Blond Blonde Hair Origins & Most Popular Countries – Brown Hair Origins & Most Popular Countries – Black Hair Origins & Most Popular Countries – Reason for Different Hair Colors
#ancestry #haircolor #dna
Check Out Manta Sleep here: mantasleep.pxf.io/Qjq9yz and use the code HISTORY at checkout to get 10% off your order.
The Hidden Links Between Hair Color & Ancestry… Red, Blond, Brown etc…
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:14 Red Hair & Ancestry
3:57 Manta Sleep
4:41 Blond/Blonde Hair & Ancestry
7:13 Brown Hair & Ancestry
9:07 Black Hair & Ancestry
What if your hair color holds a secret, passed down through thousands of years of ancestry? From fiery reds in Scotland to golden blond shades in Scandinavia, every color tells a story. So in this video we are going to explore the fascinating links between hair color and ancestry.
Now there are 4 main natural hair colors, each with several shades. Black is the most common hair color in the world, at around 75-85% of the population. The second most common is brown, at 11-15% of people. Blond is much rarer. Only 2-3% of people around the world have natural blond hair, and red is the rarest hair color on earth, found in only 1-2% of people. Certain colors like auburn blend red and brown tones, but auburn hair is not considered a separate category. Obviously people of a certain age also develop gray or white hair a lot of the time, but their original hair color was within these 4 types. People with albinism also typically have very light or white hair. This is caused by genetic mutations resulting in little to no melanin being produced.
But let’s focus on these 4 main hair colors and their links to your ancestry, and let me know what your hair color and ancestry is in the comments below. First up is the rarest hair color in the world, red hair, but what causes this color? Well red heads have a variant of the melanocortin-1 receptor gene (or MC1R) located on chromosome 16. This is involved in melanin production and is the primary driver of red hair, although other genes do play a role. It’s color comes from varying levels of different types of melanin. Red heads have high levels of the reddish pigment, pheomelanin, and relatively low levels of the dark pigment, eumelanin. Red hair is also considered a recessive trait, so you need to inherit one mutated MC1R allele from each parent to have red hair.
Now look at this table. It shows the regions of the world with the most amount of people with naturally red hair. As you can see, it is most common in Europe at around 4-6% of the population. Yet it is also at similar levels in North America which is interesting, and this is due to the European influence, especially people of Scottish and Irish descent. And this table shows the countries that have the most red heads on earth. As you can see, Scotland and Ireland are at the top, with another Celtic speaking people also relatively high, the Welsh.
Sources:
Morgan, M.D., Pairo-Castineira, E., Rawlik, K. et al. Genome-wide study of hair colour in UK Biobank explains most of the SNP heritability. Nat Commun 9, 5271 (2018). doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07691-z
Neanderthals didn't give us red hair but they certainly changed the way we sleep
Percentage of Redheads by Country 2025
Red hair - Wikipedia
Blonde is the UK's number 1 dyed hair colour of choice
The Origin of Blond Afros in Melanesia | Science | AAAS
Blond - Wikipedia
Blonde Hair Percentage by Country 2025
Brown hair - Wikipedia
What Percentage of the World's Population Has Brown Hair? - WorldAtlas
The Most Common Hair Color Isn't Blonde | HowStuffWorks
Black hair - Wikipedia
How Many People in the World Have Black Hair? - WorldAtlas
Is hair color determined by genetics?: MedlinePlus Genetics
Creative Commons Imagery:
World map: DalGobboM - Phenotype map: Andrea Hanel, Carsten Carlberg File:Archaeogenetic analysis of human skin pigmentation in Europe (with Asia geographic extension).png - Wikimedia Commons Skin colour and vitamin D: An update Andrea Hanel, Carsten Carlberg First published: 03 July 2020 FOCUS THEME ISSUE: REVIEW ARTICLE File:Archaeogenetic analysis of human skin pigmentation in Europe.jpg - Wikimedia Commons doi.org/10.1111/exd.14142 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International - Creative Commons Branch for the Tarim mummies population added per recent research and mapping (11 November 2021). "The unexpected ancestry of Inner Asian mummies". Nature 599 (7884): 204–206. DOI:10.1038/d41586-021-02872-1. ISSN 0028-0836.
Graham Crumb from Port Vila, Vanuatu File:Blonde girl Vanuatu.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic - Creative Commons
Hair Color Ancestry – Red Hair Origins & Most Popular Countries – Blond Blonde Hair Origins & Most Popular Countries – Brown Hair Origins & Most Popular Countries – Black Hair Origins & Most Popular Countries – Reason for Different Hair Colors
#ancestry #haircolor #dna
