Tuesday 3 December 2013

The gray eye colour: blue eyes with a twist

Gray eye colour

The gray eye colour is a very unique one. We all know blue and brown eyes. Brown eyes are the most common of all colours known by human kind. Aprox. 90% of all humans have brown eyes. Of course, not all people have the same brown colour. Some eyes are more brown/yellow, other eyes are very dark, almost black.
The variation we see in brown eyes is not noticable in the blue eye colour. People with blue eyes all have only a tiny bit of eumelanin in their eyes. A little bit of eumelanin (a pigment) makes eyes blue. A lot of eumelanin is responsible for brown eyes.

Infant with blue/gray eyes

Why gray eyes? 

Gray eyes are very unique because only a small percentage of people around the world have these special eyes. The gray eye colour is actually a special kind of blue. Some people think gray eyes are due to the fact that pigment in the eye changed and has the ability to bend light into a grey colour. We see colour because lightrays bends into a special way. Every colour has its special lightwave. 

Green eyes are very rare

Are gray eyes rare?

Only a small number of people have gray eyes. Some estimates show that only 2 percent of all people have gray eyes. Brown eyes are much more common and is the dominant eye colour. In some countries the brown eye colour is the only colour there is. Especially countries in Africa and Asia are very brown eyed. Green eyes are very rare. Only 1-2 % of all people on the world have those special green eyes. The estimates are based on extrapolations. 

9 comments:

  1. I have grey eyes and they sparkle

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  2. Im 39 yrs old and never met grey eyed person until my daughter.

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  3. I have grey eyes but they sometimes appear green or blue depending on outfit or mood. I also have a hazel "tiger stripe" in one of my eyes that's really cool. I didn't know my eyes were grey though until recently because I considered them light blue because up until I was about two, my eyes looked about the color of this "publish" button :)

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  4. My eyes are gray, though in some lights they seem light blue or green.

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  5. I have gray eyes and have travelled all over. 37 years old and never met anybody with similar dark gray eyes unfortunately. They do not change with light or background colour or mood.

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  6. My son and his daughter have grey eyes.

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  7. I have always said that I had blue eyes but when I observed them a few days ago they look like a lot more grey than blue and even a bit of a faint dark green.

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  8. I have grey eyes that have a yellow iris.

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  9. I have light grey eyes, blonde hair and really pale skin, im assuming this is just the lack of pigment/melanin?

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