The Rarest Eye Color in the World: What It Is and Why
They say that eyes are the windows to the soul. Often, a person's eye color is the first thing we notice about them when we meet them. And undoubtedly, every eye color shines with its own beauty. While the spectrum of eye colors is as vast as the human experience itself, one of them is the rarest eye color in the world that only a small percentage of the population possess.
Blue, brown, hazel, green and all of the shades in between—there is one in the list that a small two percent of the population hold. Can you guess what the rarest eye color in the world is?
We won't reveal it just yet—but we're getting there. We're also uncovering why this eye color is so rare, what the most common eye color is, what determines your eye color and more. Hues are more than pigments—they are reflections of the extraordinary diversity that makes us human. Let's uncover what the rarest eye color in the world is.
What Is the Rarest Eye Color?
Drum roll, please! The rarest eye color is green. Out of the conventional eye colors we'd think of—brown, blue, hazel and green—green is the rarest of the four. Only about two percent of the world's population has naturally green eyes.
What Is the Most Common Eye Color?
On the other hand, brown is the most common eye color. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), more than half of all people have brown eyes! The AAO says that it’s an inherited trait that dates back to our early ancestors, about 10,000 years ago.
Additionally, the AAO has reported that approximately 79 percent of people worldwide have some variation of brown eyes.
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How Common Are Other Eye Colors?
With brown eyes taking an overwhelming lead, all of the other eye colors have lower percentages. According to WorldAtlas, 8-10 percent of the world's population have blue eyes.
About five percent of the population have hazel eyes as well as amber-colored eyes. Hazel eyes typically combine greens and browns with splashes of gold or orange, which can change depending on the lighting. Amber eyes have a beautiful, solid gold hue that never falters.
Grey eyes make up about 3 percent of the world's population—the second rarest eye color. There are also rare cases of violet and red-colored eyes.
What Determines Eye Color?
Your eye color is determined by the amount and distribution of melanin in the iris of the eye. And of course, the genes we inherit from our parents play a significant role in determining our eye color.
There are two main types of melanin that contribute to eye color: eumelanin and pheomelanin. Eumelanin is a black and brown pigment, whereas pheomelanin is a red and yellow pigment. The interaction between the two types, along with the amount of melanin present in the iris, determines your eye color.
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Can a Person Have Two Different Colored Eyes?
Approximately, only six in every 10,000 people in the United States have two different colored eyes—but it's certainly possible. Heterochromia iridum is the name of this rare phenomenon. It occurs when the iris—the colored part of the eye surrounding the pupil—exhibits two different colors.
Most cases of heterochromia are the result of genetics, though sometimes, trauma or injury to the eye can disrupt the normal development of melanin in the iris—leading to changes in eye color. Other medical conditions, like Horner's syndrome, can also result in heterochromia.
Can You Change Your Eye Color?
If you're not looking for a permanent change to your eye color, you can always opt for the colored contacts route. There's a wide variety of colors to choose from if you want to play dress up for a day.
You can change your eye color permanently through various procedures. Some of these procedures include iris implant surgery, corneal pigmentation and laser eye color change.
