To think dark brown eyes aren’t common in white British people

[Runaway3444]

Ds1 has dark brown eyes and due to his skin tone people just assume he’s white British rather than having a Middle Eastern father. My other children have a darker skin tone so people believe them. Aibu to think most people with dark brown eyes are usually from minority ethics background.

One of my Pakistani friends at college had blue eyes 🤷🏽‍♀️ she told me it was fairly unusual.

YABU most of my family have dark brown eyes

Ben Fogle has dark brown eyes.

My daughter-in-law has the most beautiful deep brown eyes, my son has blue one grandchild has hazel eyes and the other blue. The rest of us have blue eyes,apart from my dad who has hazel.

I used to sometimes count the proportion of brown eyes in meetings at work. My impression was only about 10 to 20 per cent brown eyes in white British people (or English and Scots, anyway). I haven’t googled it, but yes it’s a minority, but also completely normal.
How dark you mean by dark brown is a bit difficult to judge, will bring the percentage down (whatever that is) and be impossible to find in any statistics I should think.

I think Ben Fogle's father is foreign however (Canadian) which might be one reason for the brown eyes.

Blue is rarer than brown. What colour eyes do you think white people are supposed to have?

@EastWestWhosBest

Am I alone in never noticing people’s eye colour unless it is very striking?

I couldn’t tell you what colour eyes my parents or closest friends have, except one who has very very dark brown eyes despite being white.

One little girl I know has very pale skin, bright blue eyes and blonde curls. Dad is mixed race.

I know what colour eyes my friends and parents have but in general I'm like you and only notice a person's eyes if their eyes are a strikingly unusual colour, I know one child with the most gorgeous bright amber eyes, or if someone's eyes are a lovely almond shape for example.

YABU

There's no such thing as white British, most of us are mixed heritage somewhere. Lots of people with pale skin and brown eyes though. Brown eyes are the global norm, blue eyes are a genetic oddity that spread through northern europe a few millennia ago.

@missymayhemsmum

There's no such thing as white British, most of us are mixed heritage somewhere. Lots of people with pale skin and brown eyes though. Brown eyes are the global norm, blue eyes are a genetic oddity that spread through northern europe a few millennia ago.

Erm yes I think there is. Factually, you can be of 100% European heritage.

@missymayhemsmum

There's no such thing as white British, most of us are mixed heritage somewhere. Lots of people with pale skin and brown eyes though. Brown eyes are the global norm, blue eyes are a genetic oddity that spread through northern europe a few millennia ago.

Nonsense.

My whole family all English for generations on both sides all have very dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. YABU.

I have light skin and light brown eyes and no one has ever thought I was anything other than English. (Which I am)

Having said that though, depending on how I do my makeup or how I have my hair, I did regularly get mistaken for other ethnicities when I was younger. But I wouldn’t specifically blame that on my eye colour

It's very common.

Brown eyes are not unusual in the uk

What planet are you from? My whole family have dark brown eyes. My husband also. White British background. YABU

Also did you not learn in biology that dark eyes are the dominant gene so if one parent has dark eyes and one blue you’re most likely to get dark. Just looking on the tv now, 3 presenters all white British with dark eyes.

@Lockheart

Think whatever you like, why would you be unreasonable?

Because it's factually incorrect. Many white British people have dark brown eyes. raises hand

I have green eyes, my husband and one disgusted have blue eyes. Our other daughter has brown eyes, a different skin tone and v dark hair. When they were little I was asked more than once if they had the same dad. They do.

my eyes are dark dark brown.. 🥰

Apparently Wiltshire is a place where people have a Celtic heritage (the Durotiges) and many of my family from that area have black hair and dark brown eyes, maybe a remnant of the Celts.

I’ve previously posted- consider myself white British but my grandfather was Greek Cypriot (who are white but not British obviously). My eyes are almost black but not quite.

It would be interesting to know what the OP defines as “white British” and “dark brown”.

@ButtercupSquash

I used to sometimes count the proportion of brown eyes in meetings at work. My impression was only about 10 to 20 per cent brown eyes in white British people (or English and Scots, anyway). I haven’t googled it, but yes it’s a minority, but also completely normal. How dark you mean by dark brown is a bit difficult to judge, will bring the percentage down (whatever that is) and be impossible to find in any statistics I should think.

I do this in every meeting, I thought it was just me 😆 I do attend a lot of boring meetings though

I agree with you OP! I accept theoretically that brown dominates, but so often you seem to see dark-eyed parents with blue-eyed children (me included, probably why I notice!)

Random z-list examples - I noticed on IG the other day that almost all of Tori Spelling's children are blue eyed, though she's dark. Ditto Kerry Katona. In the latter case her second and third husbands had dark eyes too and yet all but one have blue eyes.

Based purely on anecdotal observations, I think blueies are more prevalent among caucasians.