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Original poster

Are blue eyes really the most common eye colour in the U.K.?

106 replies

JuliTooley · 28/11/2021 15:14

In my Sunday boredom I googled U.K. eye colour breakdown. I found a study from a few years ago that found blue eyes were the most common. Break down as follows:

Blue - 48%
Green - 30%
Brown - 22%

In contrast 90% of the world’s population has brown eyes 👀

Am I the only one surprised by this? I could have sworn brown was the most common and green was the rarest? I’m really not sure I believe it, especially as it misses out hazel.

It also said blue numbers are increasing due to natural selection.

Maybe my experience has been skewed by living exclusively in London and the South East all my life. Do these stats fit in with your experience?

OP posts:
Maireas · 28/11/2021 16:16

Those stats are wrong - only 2% of people have green eyes, they're rare.

Mamamamasaurus · 28/11/2021 16:17

50% of our house is brown - I'm blue and DD is Hazel / grey

Ugzbugz · 28/11/2021 16:21

@Bettybantz

I thought it was brown too, as brown always wins the genetic lottery. I have green eyes but both my kids are brown, same as their dad.
It doesn't always, my mum has blue eyes like her dad and her mum had brown.
Niki14 · 28/11/2021 16:21

I've got blue eyes (as have all my side of the family) but DH is of Chinese decent and his genes are clearly considerably more dominant than mine seeing as I have black haired, brown eyed children and I'm pretty pale skinned with blue eyes (as is his dad). I would say about 90% of people I know who are white British have blue eyes but actually as I mix with people from lots of different nationalities and heritages, brown eyes are probably the most common colour I see.

MolkosTeenageAngst · 28/11/2021 16:21

@Maireas

Those stats are wrong - only 2% of people have green eyes, they're rare.
That’s globally. The UK statistics won’t match global statistics, Google tells me that the areas with the highest concentration of green eyes are Scotland, Ireland and some parts of Northern Europe so it stands to reason the UK will have a higher concentration of green eyes than the global population.
Maireas · 28/11/2021 16:25

True, but do you think it's as much as 30%?.

Amberflames · 28/11/2021 16:25

blue is recessive so if you have brown and blue genes together brown will win

Not always. I’m brown, OH blue. Both kids blue.

User5252727 · 28/11/2021 16:26

Blue is noticeably the most common in Scotland!

I think people tend to assume blue eyes have rarity because they're conventionally seen as the most attractive eye colour. People believe attractive = unusual, so assume blue eyes are rare. But if you make a habit of noticing eye colour you'll see how many are blue!

Worldwide of course brown is overwhelmingly the most common colour because most people in Asia, Africa and South America have brown eyes.

Maireas · 28/11/2021 16:26

Genetics is funny, isn't it? You never know.

Classica · 28/11/2021 16:27

No idea why people are listing their family members' eye colour.

Yes it is true, OP.

User5252727 · 28/11/2021 16:29

@Bettybantz

I thought it was brown too, as brown always wins the genetic lottery. I have green eyes but both my kids are brown, same as their dad.
It's not as straightforward as that. Brown will beat blue if one brown and one blue gene is passed on, but it's perfectly possible for a brown eyed parent to pass on a blue gene.

Every single person in my family for generations, including me, has brown eyes, but my son has blue.

User5252727 · 28/11/2021 16:31

Also, something that I think is funny - this topic has come up a few times on MN, and people are always adamant that it can't be true despite it being backed by a study. The myth of blue = attractive = rare is really prevalent, and people really aren't willing to accept otherwise!

MolkosTeenageAngst · 28/11/2021 16:31

@Maireas

True, but do you think it's as much as 30%?.
I think that if you are only dividing eyes into three colours (blue, green, brown) then a lot of people with hazel eyes will fall under the green category. I would call my eyes hazel but if I had to choose between brown & green I would say they are more greenish than brownish. If you’re reducing eye colour down to just 3 colours I think 30% could be considered green across the entirety of the UK.
Lostmyheart101 · 28/11/2021 16:31

I have blue- DH has greeny brown, suppose that’s hazel- one day they are more green than others.

Our kids have the same, one blue like me, one hazel like their dad.

FlorrieLindley · 28/11/2021 16:32

I've only ever known one person who had truly green eyes - the colour of an American Express card.
I have very blue eyes, as did both parents and my siblings too. My husband's eyes are a sort of aquamarine blue.

Maireas · 28/11/2021 16:32

You're right, Molkos, a lot of people have hazel/ mixture of colours

DarlingFell · 28/11/2021 16:34

My mum’s (Irish) family, parents and siblings, all had / have black hair, v dark brown eyes and olive skin. My mum is fair with blue eyes. Her brother used to tell her she was the milkman’s.

I’m olive skin with dark hair and blue eyes.

TheAntiGardener · 28/11/2021 16:43

@User5252727

Also, something that I think is funny - this topic has come up a few times on MN, and people are always adamant that it can't be true despite it being backed by a study. The myth of blue = attractive = rare is really prevalent, and people really aren't willing to accept otherwise!
Fascinates me too. If you look around, you will notice that blue and blue-grey eyes are far more common in white British people than brown. I also wonder if it’s because when they hear ‘blue eyes’ people imagine very bright, vivid blue, whereas most people’s eyes are more muted?
santabetterwashhishands · 28/11/2021 16:46

Most of my extended large family have blue eyes ,my immediate family all have blue eyes ( partner and our three kids).
My grandchildren all have blue eyes except one who has her fathers eye colouring.

supremelybaffled · 28/11/2021 16:47

I have never in my life seen a pair of genuinely green eyes on anything other than a cat.

Perhaps having hazel eyes is now uncool so people call them green instead.

Classica · 28/11/2021 16:48

I've only once seen a pair of truly green eyes. Most people who say they have green eyes have nothing of the sort.

I know a boy with pale amber eyes and they are the most striking pair of peepers I've ever seen.

Honeyroar · 28/11/2021 16:49

I think that breakdown is lumping grey eyes in with blue, and hazel eyes in with brown.

I’d have said 50/50. When I lived in Italy their stereotypical idea of a Brit was light brown hair and blue eyes (according to the people I knew!).

NotMyCat · 28/11/2021 16:52

@supremelybaffled

I have never in my life seen a pair of genuinely green eyes on anything other than a cat.

Perhaps having hazel eyes is now uncool so people call them green instead.

Mine are definitely green! They have amber around the centre but green
seb342 · 28/11/2021 16:53

@supremelybaffled

I have never in my life seen a pair of genuinely green eyes on anything other than a cat.

Perhaps having hazel eyes is now uncool so people call them green instead.

Exactly what I was thinking. True green eyes are rare and people say they are green when they are not. My cat has a lovely colour green eyes 😂
MintyGreenDream · 28/11/2021 16:53

Dh has green eyes and me and ds have brown.
Green seems like the rarest to have out of them all