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.

My mums are a dark black brown as are my cousins (see pic)
It depends what you're classing as "white British" - her great grandad was black, but as far as she was aware, her grandad and dad were white British

I'm white British with no known darker skinned ethnicities in my background. My eyes are such a dark brown they can look black in photos. 🤷‍♀️

Small sample, but famous Scotsmen seem to have dark brown eyes - David Tennant and Martin Compston are the two that spring to mind. Apparently Tennant has Irish ancestry.

I recall a rather cringey biography of Tennant in his single days describing his 'dark headlamp stare that no woman with a pulse could resist'. He cut quite a swathe through the Dr Who cast and crew, before finding (hopefully) a happy ever after with one of them.

www.google.com/search?rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB827GB827&sxsrf=ALeKk0170gMgB3AIEc4UGokb_vc2YPYVEg:1621162071684&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=blonde+brown+eyed+people&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirp5-rg87wAhV-BmMBHYo8A-gQjJkEegQIBBAB&biw=1470&bih=686

My sons eyes were black when he was born! Now really dark

We are British white

@Hallyup6

Nope, brown eyes are actually dominant in white people. Far more have brown than blue, green or grey.

have a read medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/traits/eyecolor/

I second that it's almost genetically impossible for two blue eyed parents to have a brown eyed child.

Should add the whole family actually has brown eyes, except me and my dad. My dads are blue, and mine are green

Pressed too soon:
Almost being key. Its not 100 percent impossible

@MovingHouse21

Two blue-eyed parents can only have blue-eyed children.

This is not true - my son has the darkest brown eyes and neither myself or his father have brown eyes.

Does one of you have lighter hazel eyes or similar then? Because it's true that two blue eyed parents can only have blue eyed children. Myself and my husband have blue eyes and we have five blue eyed children.

My parents both have blue eyes.

Me and sibling have brown eyes.

"White British" doesn't really mean much.

Brown is the most common eye colour in Britiain. British people tend to be a complicated mish-mash of all sorts of things, ethnically speaking.

My DM & I both have dark brown eyes, an olive complexion and dark hair. Everyone thinks we are Italian or Spanish. (The amount of items I get “Excuse me. Do. You. Speak. English?” With exaggerated hand gestures)

But we are actually Irish (99.9% according to Ancestry DNA).

Yabu. Brown is a very common colour amongst white people.

@CatbearAmo

I second that it's almost genetically impossible for two blue eyed parents to have a brown eyed child.

Yes but not actually genetically impossible. Going off genetics, my blue eyed dad and browned eyed mum shouldn't have had me with my green eyes. Statistically there is a zero percent chance of them having a child with green eyes... but here I am 😅

Dark brown eyes are very common among white British people. Light to mid brown is more common though.

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.

What on earth do you mean by people 'believe' them? Are you saying people do not believe your son has the same father as your other children? Or that they do not believe he is mixed race when he says he is?

I live in the south west and do think blue eyes are very common here, given they are a recessive trait. Maybe it's a celtic thing with Cornwall having lots of people of Celtic heritage...are you somewhere like tha

YABU! Have you lived a sheltered life

@hardboiledeggs

I wouldn’t say so, I know lots of white people with dark brown eyes including my own kids and I have blue eyes

Snap! Mine get it from their dad

I think the op is referring to people assuming her ds is white English and her other children the assumption is they are possibly mixed and some may guess. Maybe she would like her children to be treated the same

I think people when they are not sure but you don’t particularly look white English some will just want to know out of curiosity

I know on here many will see that as intrusive but I am asked far more by non white people what my background is than white British people (culturally we are quite reserved). Of course it’s how the question is asked

They can't determine it from skin and eye colour together either, as everyone is saying.

There are siblings with the same heritage who define their ethnicity differently. It's not just where your eyes or skin tone comes from, it's also cultural links and perceptions of connection.

My children all have the same heritage, and happen to have the same skin tone & hair colour, very similar eye colour, but my older 2 identify their ethnicity differently. Neither is wrong, they're not picking something that isn't in their heritage, but they see their mix of heritages differently and possibly in a way people who look at them won't be able to guess. My siblings and I all have very different eye colours and skin tones with the same mixed heritage, and we've heard all sorts of guesses in our time, the worst probably being that we're too different to actually be siblings. That fucked with my head a lot when I was kid.

If someone in your daily life is not believing his background then I can see why that would be irritating and would at least want them to not talk about it. With randoms, eh, people are going to make some assumptions based on appearance, and sometimes they're wrong, more often if from a less represented ethnic group. It can feel uncomfortable or awkward particularly if the guesser makes a deal about it or makes it out that you're lying (been there, had that, though thankfully only a couple times), but mostly it's either just a tickbox exercise or small talk and I'd change the topic as quickly as possible.

YABU. 80% of people in the world have brown eyes so plenty are white . I have dark brown eyes (and hair) and DH has blue ones (blond hair). One child with pea green eyes and light brown hair, one with dark brown eyes (but blonde hair) and one with hazel eyes and light brown eyes.

My family tree so far goes back to the 1600’s and 3 of my grandparent lines are Scottish, with 1 line coming to Scotland from Ireland in the 1800’s. DH’s are Scottish as far as we know.
Both of mine and DH’s parents are dark hair, blue eyes and pale skin, as are the majority of living relatives.
DD1 is a redhead with blue eyes pale skin and black eyelashes. DD2 is a strawberry blond with a slight tan to her skin and blond eyelashes.
We have been asked in the past who the real father is by strangers as looking at us purely by hair colour we look odd.
Perhaps OP is worried that people assume not all her children have the same father and she is lying.

Yes but not actually genetically impossible. Going off genetics, my blue eyed dad and browned eyed mum shouldn't have had me with my green eyes. Statistically there is a zero percent chance of them having a child with green eyes... but here I am 😅

Same here. I have dark brown eyes, DH has blue eyes, DD1, pea green eyes with no touch of hazel.

Very interesting that blue is the dominant colour in the UK. I have children with blue,green and brown eyes. I have brown eyes as does their Dad but we have parents with blue and green eyes which I guess explains our children's eyes.