Some ancient peoples in Spain 7,000 years ago had blue eyes and dark skin. Apologies to Frank Sinatra, but the real Ol' Blue Eyes has been found—a 7,000-year-old Spaniard whose fossil genes reveal that early Europeans sported blue eyes and dark skin.
Originally we all had brown eyes, however, according to researchers at the University of Copenhagen, it appears that a genetic mutation in a single individual in Europe 6,000 to 10,000 years ago led to the development of blue eyes.
Scientists believe that it is possible to trace all blue-eyed people back to a common ancestor, who likely had a genetic mutation that reduced the amount of melanin in the iris. Most people with blue eyes are of European descent.
Amber eyes are a solid yellowish, golden or copper color and do not contain brown, green, or orange flecks. If you have amber-colored eyes, it's likely that you're of Spanish, Asian, South American or South African descent.
The majority of Spaniards have light to olive skin, light to dark brown hair, and brown eyes. Some Spaniards have blond or red hair, blue or green eyes, and pale skin.
Like other Western Europeans, among Spaniards and Portuguese the Y-DNA Haplogroup R1b is the most frequent, occurring at over 70% throughout most of Spain. R1b is particularly dominant in the Basque Country and Catalonia, occurring at rate of over 80%.
Genetically speaking, we Spaniards are a mix of the different civilizations that have settled in the Iberian Peninsula throughout the centuries: the Visigoths from northern Europe, the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans from the Mediterranean region and the Moors from northern Africa.
Determining the rarest eye color... not so straightforward
Green is the rarest eye color of the more common colors. Outside of a few exceptions, nearly everyone has eyes that are brown, blue, green or somewhere in between. Other colors like gray or hazel are less common.
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. Despite brown eyes ranking at the bottom of our perceived attraction scale, approximately 79% of the world's population sports melanin-rich brown eyes.
Gray: The Rarest Eye Color
New classifications have determined that gray is its own standard color.1 (It was previously, and incorrectly, lumped in with blue.) With this change, gray now tops the list as the rarest eye color.
Posted Sept. 22, 2020, 8:05 a.m. It turns out most Vikings weren't as fair-haired and blue-eyed as legend and pop culture have led people to believe. According to a new study on the DNA of over 400 Viking remains, most Vikings had dark hair and dark eyes.
There are plenty of blue-eyed Asians. This probably happens when the traditional blue-eyed allele comes into a family from a (possibly very distant) European ancestor. Blue eyes then resurface in a child generations later if they inherit the allele from both parents.
African-Americans with blue eyes are not unheard of, but they are pretty rare. There are lots of ways for this to happen. Some possible ways an African-American person might have ended up with blue eyes are: Caucasian relatives in their ancestry (the most likely reason)
Blue eyes are predominant in northern and eastern Europe, particularly around the Baltic Sea. Blue eyes are also found in southern Europe, Central Asia, South Asia, North Africa and West Asia.
Both parents have to pass along the blue eye gene in order for their child to have blue eyes. That doesn't necessarily mean that the parents themselves have to have blue eyes; it's possible they carry the gene, but it is recessive. However, a blue-eyed child is almost certain if both parents have blue eyes.
Blue eyes are a fascinating and unique trait that can be found in many different parts of the world. Approximately 8% of the global population has blue eyes, with higher concentrations in certain countries such as Lithuania (95%), Finland and Estonia (89%) or the United States (16.6%).
Conversely, brown eyes are the most common color yet the least attractive to the survey's respondents. According to World Atlas, approximately 79% of the world's population has brown eyes, making it the most common eye color in the world.
Blue is the most attractive eye colour in males
For men, blue eyes stood out as a clear winner, with total matches for the eye colour representing 27% of all results - while the next most popular version of the images, brown, garnered only 22%.
Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor's eyes were famous for being stunningly beautiful and distinct. Widely known for having the most striking eyes in Hollywood, Taylor had what appeared to be rare natural purple eyes.
Unbelievable as it may seem, the answer is yes—natural purple eyes do exist. Purple eyes are also commonly referred to as “violet eyes,” as they are typically a light shade. For most people, this striking eye color can only be achieved with the help of colored contacts.
The highest concentration of people with green eyes is found in Ireland, Scotland, and northern Europe. In fact, in Ireland and Scotland, more than three-fourths of the population has blue or green eyes – 86 percent! Many factors go into having green eyes.
Spanish people have the typical Mediterranean look, with brunette hair, light brown skin, and aquiline noses. One of their standout features is their amber eyes, a rare color appearing in only about 5% of the global population.
Historical origins and genetics
The Spanish people's genetic pool largely derives from the pre-Roman inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula: Pre-Indo-European and Indo-European speaking pre-Celtic groups: (Iberians, Vettones, Turdetani, Aquitani).
The Spaniards are friendly, kind and active, ¡really active! Especially if compared to the majority of Europeans. They like to meet friends for a drink, enjoy the good weather, good food and parties. The Spaniards likes to go out to dancing, but not all dance flamenco.