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.
Europe has the widest variety of eye color, according to Custers, who adds those of European descent are the largest population of blue eyes. Europe was the epicenter of the blue-eye gene mutation. More than 80 percent of the inhabitants of Estonia and Scandinavian countries have blue eyes.
All Blue-Eyed People May Have A Common Ancestor
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.
Estonia is the country with the most blue-eyed individuals in the world. 89% of its population have blue eyes.
The color of babies' irises actually depends on melanin, a protein secreted by special cells called melanocytes that also give your baby's skin its color. Babies whose heritage is dark-skinned are usually born with brown eyes, whereas Caucasian newborns tend to be born with blue or gray 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.
Green Eyes
Green is considered by some to be the actual rarest eye color in the world, though others would say it's been dethroned by red, violet, and grey eyes.
"In Australians of European ancestry, the percentage of eye colours are 45 percent blue-grey, 30 percent green-hazel and 25 percent brown. If you're considering non-European ancestry it is the almost completely brown eye colour."
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)
The Buton tribe is located exactly in the province of Southeastern Celebés (Sulawesi), and all its members have eyes of a deep blue, even more than any Nordic person. The contrast with their dark skin makes them stand out even more. One can see that their eyes are of a spectacular clear blue.
In 2006, researchers discovered a 7,000 year old body from the Stone Age in the La Brana cave system in Leon in Northern Spain (Image 4). Genetic testing determined that this man had blue eyes. It was not in itself unusual, but what is remarkable is that he is the earliest known person with blue eyes.
Blue eyes are considered rare. Approximately 8 to 10 percent of the world's population has blue eyes. The color blue is considered a genetic alteration, which may have occurred about 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. Before that point, it was believed that most people had brown eyes.
blue eyes descend from a single genetic mutation means that every single person on the planet with blue eyes descended from one common ancestor. In fact, a team of geneticists at the University of Copenhagen actually traced that mutation all the way back to a single Danish family.
Most people of African descent have brown eyes, according to a 2021 literature review .
Approximately 35% of Germans have blue eyes, and this eye color becomes more common as one moves northwards and the opposite happens as one moves southwards. Nevertheless, another 30% have green or gray eyes. So altogether 65% of German have light eyes! You most likely confusing blue eyes with green or gray eyes too.
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!
World Atlas notes that only 8% to 10% of the global population has blue eyes. Violet eyes are even rarer, but they're a bit misleading; someone with “violet” irises is usually sporting a special shade of blue.
I should first point out that blonde hair and blue eyes are prevalent only in certain parts of Europe - northern France, northern Germany and Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, etc.), primarily.
The Australian Shepherd is one of a few dog breeds that commonly have two different colored eyes, called heterochromia. Aussies might have any combination of brown, blue, hazel, amber, or green eyes. Some Aussies even display more than one color within the same eye.
We found that green is the most popular lens colour, with brown coming in a close second, despite it being one of the most common eye colours. Although blue and hazel are seen as the most attractive eye colours for men and women they are surprisingly the least popular.
Australians of European ancestry have about 25 percent brown eyes while those of non-European descent almost all have brown eyes. If you include hazel eyes (sometimes called hazel brown eyes), the prevalence is even higher. This high prevalence doesn't mean all brown eyes look the same.
Likewise, two brown-eyed parents can have a child with blue eyes, although this is also uncommon.
Of those four, green is the rarest. It shows up in about 9% of Americans but only 2% of the world's population. Hazel/amber is the next rarest of these. Blue is the second most common and brown tops the list with 45% of the U.S. population and possibly almost 80% worldwide.
Yes, natural purple eyes are possible. There are many different shades of blues and greys out there and many in-between colors. Although very rare, some people's natural pigmentation can even be violet or purple in color.