Initially, you will find mainly horoscopes that combine eye color with character traits. Yet why, purely scientifically, are children born with different colors of eyes and can it cause other differences between them?
What causes eye color?
The iris is the structure of the eye that surrounds the pupil and is often referred to as the “colored part of the eye.” It is a muscle that expands and contracts to control the size of the pupil. The pupil enlarges in dark and decreases in bright light. It also changes shape based on what you do – it shrinks when you are doing things close to your eyes, such as reading.
Eye color depends on how much pigment is in the iris. The pigment that determines eye color is called melanin. If you have a lot of it, you will have brown eyes (or another dark eye color). If you have less melanin in your iris, your eyes will be lighter in color.
Is eye color genetically determined?
The color of a child’s eyes is affected by the color of his parents’ eyes. However, parental genes can be combined in different ways. It is the result of a mixture of eye colors of parents and their parents. In the past, brown eye color was considered “dominant” and blue “recessive.” Each parent yet has two pairs of genes on each chromosome, and there are several ways in which this genetic information is expressed. Even a child with brown-eyed parents may have blue eyes if one of his grandparents had them.
What is the most common eye color? It is brown – the most common eye color in the world with many shades. The prevalence of eye colors also varies geographically – most people in Africa and Asia have dark brown eyes, which significantly increases the overall percentage. Currently, it is more than 55% of the world’s population.
What is the rarest eye color? Green is considered to be the rarest eye color that occurs naturally. Some surveys suggest that green eyes are also considered the most attractive eye color. According to the demographic source World Atlas, only about 2% of the world’s population have green eyes.
However, the hazel color is also very rare. It contains various shades of green and brown, which makes them so special.
Blue eyes, in turn, are known to tend to lose their visual acuity more quickly. The light color is more sensitive to sunlight, so do not forget to protect yourself regularly with sunglasses. It is the second most common eye color in the world and all blue-eyed people have the same ancestor.
Can eye color change?
It is generally rare for the color of the eyes to change after the first year of life. You can see a change when your pupils widen or shrink – the pigments in the irises merge or widen. In some cases, eye color may darken slightly during puberty or pregnancy or after reaching old age.
There are several factors that can cause eye discoloration. These are, for example, emotions, age, diet, sun exposure or illness. (Read more on our next blog “Does the eye color change?”)
If you want to try what you look like with a different eye color or you temporarily need to change it due to a costume or for other reasons, the safest way is professionally installed colored contact lenses. And we will be happy to help you with that.
But one thing is to remember. If you have significant changes in eye color in one or both eyes, see an eye doctor. These can be warning signs of certain diseases, such as pigmented glaucoma.
Heterochromia
If you look closely, many people have eyes with significant color variations in different parts of the iris. This is normal and is caused by tissue changes in different parts of the iris. Some people may have a pigmented “freckle” (so-called nevus) on one part of the iris. There are also cases of variation called heterochromia, where a small or large portion of the iris has a different color than the rest of the eye. Sometimes heterochromia can be so significant that one whole eye has a different color than the other.
However, there is no need to worry, heterochromia has no effect on health. You may be born with it or develop later in life due to conditions such as:
- eye surgery,
- eye bleeding,
- swelling,
- injury,
- glaucoma or
- development of tumors in the iris.
Superstitions about eye color
Eye color has often been associated with various superstitions in the past. It used to be talked about, and we often hear it today, that the eyes are windows to the soul, or that the color of the eyes reveals a person’s talent. You may recognize the ice queen by looking into her pale blue eyes or you may believe more green-eyed. Have you encountered any of these examples?
Blue-eyed people have a rich imagination. - People with blue eyes can withstand several times stronger pain than people with other eye colors and show excellent endurance.
- People with lighter eye tones, such as light gray, blue or green, are fun – loving, friendly and always excited. They can lift your spirits completely, have a great sex appeal and are often a hit at parties.
- Those with green eyes have keen minds, are quick and determined. But they are also mischievous and tend to lie.
- The green-gray color of the eyes elevates the mystery of your soul.
- Hazel eyes indicate passionate souls.
- People with brown eyes are calm but have a great passion.
- People with gray eyes are sometimes plagued by intense internal emotional conflict and often find it difficult to make rational decisions. But no matter what the fight, they seem as strong as ever.
- People with dark eyes are born leaders.
- People with dark or black eyes are very trustworthy and guard secrets as if their lives depended on it. They are very responsible and are not affected by emotional shocks.
Deliberately – do these claims fit you or the people around you?
It is difficult to agree with what is said about eye color. Several surveys have been conducted around the world. One of them, where more than 66,000 respondents were involved, 20% said that the most attractive is green. It is followed by 16% hazelnut and light blue. Brown was chosen as the least attractive (6%). But you definitely don’t need to take anything personally! And when it comes down to it, you can always opt for colored contact lenses.
Despite what is said about the color of the eyes or what the science claims, each of us is unique, no matter what color his or her eyes are. We have our own eccentricities, weaknesses and strengths. It may be nice and enjoyable to receive a gift from nature in the form of a nice color, but you certainly do not have to be unhappy if your color is a bit of “none”. It is up to us to enjoy life as best we can and we do not need to be full of colors :).
Title image source: https://www.plexusmd.com/md/post/eye-color-genetics-not-so/65466
