What percentage of the world's population has red hair?
Q: What percentage of the world's population has red hair?
A: Approximately 1 to 2% of the world's population has red hair.
Q: How is red hair made?
A: Red hair is made by genes. The gene for red hair is recessive, meaning it is weaker than other genes like the brown hair gene. To have natural red hair a person needs to have red-haired ancestors present on both the maternal (mother's) and paternal (father's) side of the family.
Q: Where is red hair most common?
A: Red hair is said to be most common close to the Northern European coasts and islands of the Atlantic Ocean, like British Isles, and in particular among Celtic people. In Ireland, around 10% of people have red hair with 46% carrying the gene. Parts of the United Kingdom such as Scotland also have very high percentages with around 6%.
Q: Is there a misconception about how many people in Scotland have red hair?
A: Yes, there was a misconception that 13% of people in Scotland had red hair due to this figure appearing in reliable media sources; however this figure was only an estimate and has since been disproved by research. Dr. Jim Wilson found that 6% of people in Scotland had red hair which is consistent with another study which analysed over half a million people and found 5.3%.
Q: How many US citizens are estimated to be natural redheads?
A: It is estimated that up to 18 million US citizens are natural redheads compared to 650,000 living in Scotland.
Q: Are there any rude names given specifically for those with reddish-tinted locks?
A: Yes, particularly in countries such as Britain Isles where despite having a high proportion of those with naturally occurring ginger locks they may still be given derogatory nicknames such as "carrot-top" or "ginga". They may even face ridicule from their peers or harassment from others due to their unique colouring choice!
