These are the rarest eye colours in the world (2024)

FAQs

These are the rarest eye colours in the world? ›

What's the most common eye color? The most common eye color is brown. More than half of the world's population has brown eyes (some experts include amber as a shade of brown, too).

What's the most common eye color? The most common eye color is brown. More than half of the world's population has brown eyes (some experts include amber as a shade of brown, too).

One thing these survey results have in common is that light-colored eyes — green, gray, blue, and hazel — are named as the most attractive eye colors in the world. In one large survey of more than 66,000 people, green was chosen as the most attractive eye color. Green is also among the rarest eye colors.

Red and violet

Although the deep blue eyes of some people such as Elizabeth Taylor can appear purple or violet at certain times, "true" violet-colored eyes occur only due to albinism. Eyes that appear red or violet under certain conditions due to albinism are less than 1 percent of the world's population.

According to an article by evolutionary biology professor Mark Elgar, PhD, of the University of Melbourne, blue-eyed redheads are the absolute rarest, with 0.17% of the population having that combination of hair and eye color. So if that describes you, you're most likely one in a million—or more!

When it comes to global numbers, multiple internet sources estimate around 3% of people worldwide have grey eyes—a rarity indeed! But not enough large-scale studies have been done to provide more accurate numbers. So, it's impossible to say exactly how many people have grey eyes.

Most Common and Rarest Eye Colors

Blue is the second most common and brown tops the list, found in 45% of the U.S. population and possibly almost 80% worldwide. Black is not an eye color. While some eyes may look black, they're either just a very dark brown or large pupils.

Natural red hair is the rarest hair color in the world. A mere one to two percent of people are born with auburn hair. The prevalence is slightly higher in the northern and western fringes of Europe, especially the British Isles (mainly Ireland and Scotland), than in the rest of the world.

For those too young to remember, Elizabeth Taylor was a beautiful movie star. In her heyday from the 1950s to the 1970s — long before colored contact lenses were available — she was famous for her supposedly violet eyes. In fact, her eyes were dark blue but in a specific lighting, they looked violet.

Brown Eyes Are Associated With Few if Any Health Risks

“In general, everyone should make sure to wear 100 percent UV-blocking sunglasses when outdoors to minimize their chances of developing cataracts and other eye diseases,” Abugo advises.

What is the strongest eye color? ›

The allele for brown eyes is the most dominant allele and is always dominant over the other two alleles and the allele for green eyes is always dominant over the allele for blue eyes, which is always recessive.

While lighter-colored eyes may be more sensitive to sunlight, they are not necessarily more sensitive to vision. In fact, blue eyes have better visual acuity than brown eyes. This means that blue-eyed people can see small details more clearly.

Amber eyes: A golden yellow or copper colour occurs due to higher quantities of the pigment lipochrome (yellow pigment) and very little melanin, and are considered very rare. Amber-coloured eyes are most often seen in Asian and South American areas of the world.

Violet or red eyes are among the rarest eye colors, with less than 0.01% of the population having this unique hue. This eye color is often associated with albinism, a genetic condition that results in the absence of melanin, the pigment responsible for coloring hair, skin, and eyes.

A black eye is a bruise in the tissues around your eye. The skin around your eye may look swollen, with a blue or purple colour. There are different causes of black eyes, such as trauma to your face. If you get a black eye, it's best to see a doctor to rule out any other issues.

Why Are Green Eyes So Rare? The chance of being born with green eyes hinges on a "complex interplay" of multiple genes and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), "making precise prediction challenging," Sexton noted.

Turquoise eyes are a rare, bright blue-green color that is caused by the combination of blue scattering of light by the iris and yellow color of the epithelium. They are rare and are often found in people of Middle Eastern and North African descent.

According to estimates, 70–79% of the world's population have brown eyes, making it the most common eye color worldwide. In fact, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) state that everyone on Earth had brown eyes around 10,000 years ago.

Amber eyes: A golden yellow or copper colour occurs due to higher quantities of the pigment lipochrome (yellow pigment) and very little melanin, and are considered very rare. Amber-coloured eyes are most often seen in Asian and South American areas of the world.