Did You Know These Things About Green Eyes? (2024)

Green eye colour is the rarest in the world. Only 2% of people globally have green eyes. But in their rarity, there are lots of interesting green eye facts.

Did you know…?

    The largest concentration of green eyed people is in Ireland, Scotland and Northern Europe.

    In Ireland and Scotland, 86% of people have either blue or green eyes.

    There have been 16 genes identified that contribute to eye colour. This means that no matter what colour eyes your parents have, yours can be pretty much any colour.

    All races, including Caucasian, African, Asian, Pacific Islanders, Arabic, Hispanic and the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas can have green eyes.

This is because green eyes are heavily influenced by your environment…

    Green is actually not a pigmentation of the iris at all. Green eyes are a curious blend of light brown pigmentation, a yellowish lipochrome pigment, and a splash of Rayleigh scattering.

    In humans, the pigmentation of an iris ranges from very light amber yellow to a very dark brown, bordering on black. The darkness of the iris depends on its concentration of melanin.

    Rayleigh Scattering is the dispersion of light as it bounces off of air molecules. This helps determine eye colour as different light waves are captured in your eye pigment.
    This same scattering of light occurs in the sky which makes it appear blue.

Because of this, green eyes do not appear immediately in babies…

    All babies are born with blue or brown eyes. Green eyes can take between 6 months and 3 years to appear in children.

    There is a village in north western China called Liqian, whose people are thought to be descended from Roman General Marcus Crassus’ mysteriously missing army. Two-thirds of the inhabitants today have green eyes and blonde hair.

Green Eye Superstitions

People with green eyes are thought to share character traits. But your eye colour has no affect on your personality.

Shakespeare coined the phrase “green-eyed” to convey jealousy. In The Merchant of Venice the green is suggestive of illness…

How all the other passions fleet to air,

As doubtful thoughts, and rash-embraced despair,

And shuddering fear, and green-eyed jealousy! O love,

Be moderate; allay thy ecstasy,

In measure rein thy joy; scant this excess.

I feel too much thy blessing: make it less,

For fear I surfeit.

While in Othello, the “green-eyed monster” alludes to the cat-like nature of jealousy in how it toys with our emotions.

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;

It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock

The meat it feeds on; that cuckold lives in bliss

Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger;

But, O, what damned minutes tells he o’er

Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!

Despite being the rarest eye colour in real life, green eyes are EVERYWHERE in fiction. Green eyes are used as a sort of visual shorthand to suggest a character being exotic, attractive and/or evil.

A short list of green eyed characters in fiction…

  • The Lady – The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
  • Harry Potter – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by K Rowling
  • Marcone – Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
  • Jane Eyre – Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  • Petyr Baelish – A Song of Fire & Ice George R. R. Martin
  • Scar – The Lion King
  • Loki – Thor
  • The Mad Hatter – Alice in Wonderland (2010)
  • Mary Jane Watson – The Amazing Spider-Man comics
  • Catwoman – Batman comics

Did You Know These Things About Green Eyes? (1)

Did You Know These Things About Green Eyes? (2)

Did You Know These Things About Green Eyes? (3)

So there you have it, we bet you didn’t even know a quarter of these green eye facts. If you know any we haven’t listed here, let us know on our Facebook page.

Did You Know These Things About Green Eyes? (2024)

FAQs

Did You Know These Things About Green Eyes? ›

Green eyes are the most rare eye color in the world. Only about 2 percent of people in the world have naturally green eyes. Green eyes are a genetic mutation that results in low levels of melanin, though more melanin than in blue eyes. Green eyes don't actually have any color.

What is true about people with green eyes? ›

They are the result of a genetic mutation that causes an individual to produce low amounts of melanin. The low amount of melanin results in the phenomenon known as Rayleigh scattering whereby light is reflected by the eyes. This is what makes them appear green.

What they say about people with green eyes? ›

Green eyes are indicative of mystical intelligence or psychic powers. In many tales, green eyes are considered a sign of wisdom and knowledge. Wizards, nymphs, and spirits are given green eyes to appear trustworthy and intelligent, symbolizing that they are wiser than they appear and may be able to predict the future.

What ethnicity has green eyes? ›

All races, including Caucasian, African, Asian, Pacific Islanders, Arabic, Hispanic and the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas can have green eyes.

Why are green eyes so attractive? ›

People with green eyes are often considered creative and imaginative. This eye color is associated with jealousy and passion. Since it is rare, it is often deemed very attractive.

What green eyes say about your ancestry? ›

Green eyes are most frequently found in Northern and Central Europe. Although green eyes can occur naturally in all races, about 16% of people with green-eyed people are of Germanic and Celtic ancestry. To be more precise, a staggering 86% of people from Ireland and Scotland have green eyes.

What is the DNA of people with green eyes? ›

Green eye color is a mix of both. Green is recessive to brown but dominant to blue. Other genes that help determine eye, skin, and hair color include the genes ASIP, IRF4, SLC24A4, SLC24A5, SLC45A2, TPCN2, TYR, and TYRP1. 11 These genes are thought to interact with OCA2 and HERC2 to decide eye color.

Who has most beautiful green eyes? ›

Celebrating Hollywood's Green-Eyed Beauties
  • Scarlett Johansson. ...
  • Amanda Seyfried. ...
  • Kristen Stewart. ...
  • Elizabeth Olsen. ...
  • Jenna Dewan. ...
  • Lena Headey. ...
  • Felicity Jones. ...
  • Laura Prepon.

What goddess has green eyes? ›

Demeter is a tall female deity with fair skin, wide green eyes and long blonde hair worn in an elegant updo.

What's the difference between green and hazel eyes? ›

Green eyes tend to have a mostly solid green color throughout the iris (the colored part of the eye). Hazel eyes, on the other hand, are multicolored. For instance, if you have green eyes with brown or gold flecks or a gradient of green, brown, and gold, then you have hazel eyes.

What do green eyes symbolize? ›

However, just for fun – here are some personality traits that have historically been associated with green eyes in fables and folklore: intelligence, passion, mysteriousness, creativity, jealousy, and great leadership skills.

What ancestry has the most green eyes? ›

Green eyes are more commonly found in people of European descent. Green eyes are more common in women of Celtic ancestry. In the United States, an estimated 9% of people have green eyes. Green eyes are a result of low levels of melanin and a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering.

What colour hair is best for green eyes? ›

People with green eyes and tanned skinned look great with all variations of browns, as well as beige and champagne hair colours. Blonde, red, brown and black hair colours go very well with fair skin green-eyed people. If you want the blonde to emphasise your eyes, then honey-blonde highlights are for you.

Do guys find girls with green eyes attractive? ›

While men were 1.4 times more likely than women to wish their partner had a different eye color, both genders favored blue eyes. Surprisingly, green, brown, and hazel were more preferred on a partner than gray eyes which respondents had previously considered the most attractive.

Are people with green eyes intelligent? ›

Studies show that people with green eyes are known to be particularly intelligent and creative. They often have a great sense of humor and an even greater sense of style. With their natural charisma, they can easily get away with almost anything.

Are green eyes intelligent? ›

There is no scientific data supporting a correlation between eye color and “intelligence”.

Is green eyes a strong gene? ›

Green eyes are caused by a combination of eumelanin and a small amount of pheomelanin in the iris. The gene for green eyes is recessive, meaning that two copies of the allele are needed to produce green eyes.

What is the rarest eye color? ›

What's the rarest eye color? Not counting colors like red/pink from conditions like albinism, the rarest of the main eye colors is green. About 2% of people worldwide have green eyes.

What is the most attractive eye color? ›

Instead, gray eyes topped the chart with an average rating of 7.4, followed by blue and green eyes each scoring an average of 7.3. When broken down by gender, men ranked gray, blue, and green eyes as the most attractive, while women said they were most attracted to green, hazel, and gray eyes.

How rare are green eyes actually? ›

Most Common and Rarest Eye Colors

Of those four, green is the rarest. It shows up in about 9% of Americans but only 2% of the world's population.

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