Freckles occur in people with heritage from around the world. Because they're often seen in people with red hair, freckles are commonly associated with Ireland and Scotland, where this hair color is common as well.
Because of the natural tanning reaction to the sun's ultraviolet light and high amounts of pheomelanin in the skin, freckles are a common, but not universal, feature of red-haired people.
Contrary to what many people assume, redheads did not originate in Scandinavia, Scotland or Ireland, but in central Asia. Their coloring is due to a mutation in the MC1R gene that fails to produce sun-protective, skin-darkening eumelanin and instead causes pale skin, freckles and 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.
An estimated 46% of the Irish population carry the recessive freckle gene. Almost half, but carrying this gene doesn't mean that you'll notice any freckles. As a result, redheads are still in the minority in Ireland, although in high concentrations throughout the country.
Red hair, a Celto-Germanic trait? 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.
The percentage of redheads in Ireland hovers around the 10% mark. Scotland weighs in at around 6%, followed by England at around 4%. Scottish people may disagree, but we say Ireland is the undisputed world capital of redheads.
The recessive gene that carries red hair has been traced back 50,000 Years when early modern gingers first appeared in the grasslands of Central Asia. Red hair was regarded in classical literature as the epitome of everything barbaric – but only when it comes to men. A redheaded woman is a force of nature.
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.
Historians believe red hair actually originated in central Asia about 50,000 years ago.
The variation of the MC1R gene that causes freckles is passed down genetically. People of Celtic heritage, who typically have very fair hair and skin, are more likely to have this genetic mutation than other groups. However, people of African, Mediterranean, Asian, and Hispanic descent can also have freckles.
Freckles occur in people with heritage from around the world. Because they're often seen in people with red hair, freckles are commonly associated with Ireland and Scotland, where this hair color is common as well. But anyone can get freckles.
Some changes in the MC1R gene results in the production of pheomelanin from the pigments. Pheomelanin causes reddish hair as well as freckles. So, if a person carries the pheomelanin version of the MC1R gene, it's likely that she or he will have red hair and develop freckles.
Rarest kind of redhead
Having red hair and blue eyes is the rarest hair/eye color combination possible. 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.
8. Blue eyed redheads are super rare. Blue eyes and red hair forms the rarest combo on earth. Most (natural) redheads will have brown eyes, followed by hazel or green shades.
A big clue was the fact that people with red hair tend to also have freckles. And that freckled people often have red haired children. Why is this? Because most cases of freckles and red hair are caused by the same gene -- MC1R.
Green irises (the rarest eye color) have less melanin than brown eyes but more than blue eyes, for instance. “Brown is on one end, blue on the other, and hazel and green are in between,” Dr.
But here's the thing. Despite its popularity, strawberry blonde hair only occurs naturally in between 1 and 2 percent of the world's total population — which means it takes hair color and technique to make it happen for the rest of us. In fact, it's a hue that's been rare yet in demand for centuries.
Yes, Vikings did have red beards. According to sources, red hair and beards are a genetic trait that is specific to Nordic tribes. It's even thought that some Norsemen would dye their red hair and beards to look blond using lye soap.
Red hair is relatively common in England, Iceland and Norway, too, while Germany, Sweden, Finland, The Netherlands and northern France are all ahead of the global average. Travel south through Europe and red hair becomes very rare. Just 0.57 per cent of Italians have it, for example, according to one study.
Since your genes never change, your hair color will never actually change to gray or white. The hair follicles instead just simply stop producing pigment. You can still be a redhead even if you don't have red hair on top of your head any longer because genetically you haven't changed.
Without question, the countries of Ireland and Scotland have the highest percentage of people with naturally red hair. However, precisely what those percentages are and which country's percentage is ultimately the highest is a bit less clear.
Most redheads have a gene mutation called MC1R. This type of gene must be carried by both parents in order for a child to potentially be born with red hair. Lots of people carry the gene but don't have red hair themselves. This is often why we see red hair skipping a generation or even multiple generations.
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.