Rooney: In Gaelic the name means 'red haired. ' Rudyard (Rudy): Of old English origin meaning 'red yard.
RUADH – Gaelic byname meaning “red”, often a nickname for one with red hair.
Red hair has long been associated with Celtic people. Both the ancient Greeks and Romans described the Celts as redheads. The Romans extended the description to Germanic people, at least those they most frequently encountered in southern and western Germany.
Historically, it's thought that the Celtic people, originating in Central Europe and spreading to Western Europe and the British Isles, had a higher prevalence of redheads. Vikings, too, had redheads among them, but not to the extent often depicted in popular culture.
Redheads Originated in Central Asia, Not Ireland or Scotland.
Contrary to what pop culture has us believe about Vikings, most of them didn't actually fit the prototype of blond hair, blue eyes, and rugged looks. In fact, research suggests that genetic analysis of this Norse tribe found that a majority of Vikings had red hair.
However, redheads are not only Celts or Caucasians. Their distribution is a testament to the global movement of DNA across societies and landscapes. Although most common in Northern Europe, parts of Russia, and among European descendants in Australia, there are redheads from all ethnicities and races.
Although red hair is frequently associated with Scotland, Ireland, and England, people of color can also be born with natural red hair. For example, places like Morocco and Central Asia have higher proportions of redheads.
The rarest natural hair colour is red, which makes up only one to two percent of the global population. You commonly see these hair colours in western and northern areas of Europe, especially Scotland and Ireland. However, natural redheads may not exist for much longer.
The Science behind Red Hair
Ireland has the highest per capita percentage of redheads in the world — anywhere from 10% to 30%. Outside Europe, only 0.06% of people are redheaded.
A redhead is a person with red hair. Although sometimes it looks more like orange, “orangehead” isn't a thing. Only about one percent of the entire population is a real redhead. In England, a redhead is “ginger” haired.
Previous studies had shown that redheads inherit two versions of the MC1R gene that leads to red hair – one from their mum and one from their dad. Although almost everyone with red hair has two copies of the red-haired version of MC1R, not everyone carrying two red-haired versions is a redhead.
The odds of a person having both of those recessive traits is around 0.17%. Instead, most redheads have brown, hazel or green eyes, according to Medical Daily.
4. While red hair is synonymous with Ireland, it didn't even originate there. Red hair can actually be traced back to Central Asia. So whether you're a redhead with Irish roots or not, your genes probably originated from the same place.
Scottish research has found that the Celts' flaming red hair can be put down to the weather. With ten percent in Ireland and 13 percent of people in Scotland boasting glorious red hair, there could be something to it. The experts believe that the gloomy climate in Scotland prompted a deliberate genetic adaptation.
Natural red hair is the rarest hair color in the world. A mere one to two percent of people are born with auburn hair. The prevalence is slightly higher in the northern and western fringes of Europe, especially the British Isles (mainly Ireland and Scotland), than in the rest of the world.
The rarest hair and eye color combination is red hair with blue eyes, occurring in less than 1% of the global population.
And when you meet a red head with blue eyes, you are looking at the rarest colour combination of all for human beings. Around 17 per cent of people have blue eyes, and when combined with 1-2 per cent having red hair, the odds of having both traits are around 0.17 per cent.
Scotland: Another Western European country, Scotland may be the only other country on Earth with a percentage of redheads comparable to that of Ireland. Some estimates suggest that the percentage of redheads in Scotland is roughly 6%, though other estimates place it as high as 13%—higher even than Ireland.
Less than 2% of the world's population has red hair. The highest concentration of redheads is in Scotland (13%), followed by Ireland (10%).
Blue-eyed Britain: Colour is most common in Ireland and Scotland.
Throughout history, artists from Sandro Botticelli to Dante Gabriel Rossetti have mined the potent symbolism of red hair to alternately suggest promiscuity, sensuality, deviousness, and—above all—otherness for centuries.
Having red hair isn't the only thing that makes some redheads unique. They are also more likely to be left handed. Both characteristics come from recessive genes, which like to come in pairs. Redheads probably won't go grey.
The skin of a redhead is thinner compared to others and is derived from the ectoderm. Teeth enamel is also derived from the ectoderm and thus is thinner than usual. Since the enamel coating is thin, the inner layer of tooth-dentin is more visible and offers a yellowish appearance.