Brown hair

{{short description|Human hair color}} {{Redirect|Brunette}} {{For|other uses of Brunet|Brunet (disambiguation){{!}}Brunet}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} thumb|A close-up view of brown hair thumb|Woman with brown hair

'''Brown hair''', also referred to as '''brunette''' (when female), is the second-most common human hair color, after black hair. It varies from light to dark brown. It is characterized by moderate levels of the dark pigment eumelanin and no levels of the pale pigment pheomelanin.

Brown hair is common among populations in the Western world, especially among those from Northwestern Europe and the United States, as well as populations in Central Europe, Southeastern Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, Southern Cone, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and also some populations in the Middle East, Central Asia, Afghanistan and South Asia where it transitions smoothly into black hair.<ref name="Frost">Frost, Peter. [http://cogweb.ucla.edu/ep/Frost_06.html "Why Do Europeans Have So Many Hair and Eye Colors?"] (summarizing Frost, P. 2006. European hair and eye color - A case of frequency-dependent sexual selection? Evolution and Human Behavior 27:85-103)</ref><ref name=":0" /> Additionally, brown hair is common among Australian Aboriginals, East Asians and Melanesians.<ref name="Modern Human Variation">{{cite web|title=Modern Human Variation|url=http://anthro.palomar.edu/vary/vary_1.htm|work=Overview|access-date=16 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105101522/http://anthro.palomar.edu/vary/vary_1.htm|archive-date=5 November 2012}}</ref>

==Etymology and grammar== The term ''brunette'' is the feminine form of the French word ''brunet'', which is a diminutive form of ''brun'' meaning "brown/brown-haired", the feminine of which is ''brune''. All of these terms ultimately derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *''bhrūn-'' "brown, grey". The form "brun" (pronounced {{IPAc-en|b|r|uː|n|}}) is still commonly used in Scotland, particularly in rural areas, and is also the word for "brown" in the Scandinavian languages. In modern English usage, however, it has lost the diminutive meaning and usually refers to any brown-haired girl or woman, or the associated hair color. ''Merriam-Webster'' defines "brunet" as "a person having brown hair"—with which they may have "a relatively dark complexion—spelled brunet when used of a boy or man and usually brunette when used of a girl or woman".<ref name="Brunet">{{cite web |title=Brunet |work=Merriam-Webster Dictionary |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=25 October 2012 |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brunet}}</ref> Although ''brunet'' is the masculine version of the popular diminutive form used to describe a little boy or young man with brown hair, the use of "brunet" is uncommon in English. One is more likely to say about a man or boy, "He has brown hair" or "He is brown-haired" than to say, "He is a brunette" (or brunet).

Lighter or darker shades of brown hair may be referred to as "light brunette" or "dark brunette", though in such cases one is generally referring only to the hair color, not using the term as a descriptor for the person; one would be unlikely to say, "She is a light brunette." Rather, one would say, "She has light-brown hair."

==Geographical distribution and ethnic groups== ===Europe=== Brown-haired individuals predominate in most parts of Europe. In northern and central Europe medium to light brown shades are the most common, while darker shades prevail in the rest of the continent. Brown hair, mostly medium to light brown shades, are also dominant in Australia, Canada, South Africa among White South Africans and the United States among European Americans (from Northern, Central and Eastern Europe), British, Irish, Baltic, Dutch/Flemish, German (including Swiss-German and Austrian), Slovenian, Polish, Ukrainian and Russian people, as well as Southern (Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese) and Southeastern Europe (Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian).<ref name="Frost"/>

In Spain, 57% are brown (7% of Spaniards are naturally blonde, 26% brunette, 3% redhead and the remaining 10% dark and light brown).<ref>{{Cite web |title=ELMUNDO.ES {{!}} SUPLEMENTOS {{!}} MAGAZINE 183 {{!}} Después de 3.000 años la tentación sigue siendo rubia|url=https://www.elmundo.es/magazine/2003/183/1048874109.html#:~:text=Si%20s%C3%B3lo%20el%207%25%20de,tanto%20dorado%20por%20nuestras%20ciudades? |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=www.elmundo.es}}</ref>

Dark brown hair is common throughout Europe.<ref>Ohnemus, Alexander. (2025). Correcting “unmixed europeans don't have dark brown eyes and black hair. </ref>

===Africa=== Brown hair is common in North Africa (such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), ranging from light to dark brown, with dark brown being the most prevalent.

===Oceania=== [[File:Two Vanuatu girls.jpg|thumb|Children from Vanuatu, one with blond hair, one with brown]] Similarly to blond hair, brown hair occurs commonly among Australian Aboriginal and Melanesian populations.<ref name="Modern Human Variation"/>

===America===

Brown hair is also found among people in the Americas, including in the Southern Cone of South America (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, central-southern Brazil), Colombia, the Andean Region of Venezuela, the Costa Rican Central Valley, and the Puerto Rico.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Ruiz-Linares |first1=Andrés |last2=Adhikari |first2=Kaustubh |last3=Acuña-Alonzo |first3=Victor |last4=Quinto-Sanchez |first4=Mirsha |last5=Jaramillo |first5=Claudia |last6=Arias |first6=William |last7=Fuentes |first7=Macarena |last8=Pizarro |first8=María |last9=Everardo |first9=Paola |last10=Avila |first10=Francisco de |last11=Gómez-Valdés |first11=Jorge |date=2014-09-25 |title=Admixture in Latin America: Geographic Structure, Phenotypic Diversity and Self-Perception of Ancestry Based on 7,342 Individuals |journal=PLOS Genetics |language=en |volume=10 |issue=9 |article-number=e1004572 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004572 |issn=1553-7404 |pmc=4177621 |pmid=25254375 |bibcode=2014PLOSG..10.4572R |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mooney |first1=Jazlyn A. |last2=Huber |first2=Christian D. |last3=Service |first3=Susan |last4=Sul |first4=Jae Hoon |last5=Marsden |first5=Clare D. |last6=Zhang |first6=Zhongyang |last7=Sabatti |first7=Chiara|author7-link=Chiara Sabatti |last8=Ruiz-Linares |first8=Andrés |last9=Bedoya |first9=Gabriel |last10=Freimer |first10=Nelson |last11=Lohmueller |first11=Kirk E. |date=2018-11-01 |title=Understanding the Hidden Complexity of Latin American Population Isolates |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=103 |issue=5 |pages=707–726 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.09.013 |issn=0002-9297 |pmc=6218714 |pmid=30401458}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Homburger |first1=Julian R. |last2=Moreno-Estrada |first2=Andrés |last3=Gignoux |first3=Christopher R. |last4=Nelson |first4=Dominic |last5=Sanchez |first5=Elena |last6=Ortiz-Tello |first6=Patricia |last7=Pons-Estel |first7=Bernardo A. |last8=Acevedo-Vasquez |first8=Eduardo |last9=Miranda |first9=Pedro |last10=Langefeld |first10=Carl D. |last11=Gravel |first11=Simon |date=2015-12-04 |title=Genomic Insights into the Ancestry and Demographic History of South America |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=11 |issue=12 |article-number=e1005602 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1005602 |issn=1553-7390 |pmc=4670080 |pmid=26636962 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

A study of 1,023 students in Chile found that the most common eye color was brown-black: 71 to 89.4% and the most common hair color was brown from 65.8% to 66.8%.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zemelman |first1=Viviana |last2=von Beck |first2=Petra |last3=Alvarado |first3=Orlando |last4=Valenzuela |first4=Carlos Y |date=August 2002 |title=Dimorfismo sexual en la pigmentación de la piel, color de ojos y pelo y presencia de pecas en adolescentes chilenos en dos estratos socioeconómicos |journal=Revista médica de Chile |language= |volume=130 |issue=8 |doi=10.4067/S0034-98872002000800006 |issn=0034-9887|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Dark brown hair also be found among Indigenous Americans

===Asia=== ====Middle East==== thumb|Afghan children with brown hair Brown hair in the Middle East is typically medium to dark brown, though light brown can also be seen. <gallery> File:Dima Ghawi holding Breaking Vases.jpg|Dima Ghawi's dark brown hair File:Middle Eastern child.jpg|Brown-haired Middle Eastern boy File:Soldiers give out school supplies DVIDS214839.jpg|Iraqi boy </gallery>

====Central Asia==== thumb|Two Central Asian women with brown hair Brown hair is also found in Central Asia, typically medium to dark brown. <gallery> File:Hammond Slides Central Asia 64.jpg|Brown-haired Central Asian womens File:Hammond Slides Central Asia Unlabeled 58.jpg|Central Asian people File:Hammond Slides Central Asia 62.jpg|Brown-haired Central Asian toddler being held File:ЦА-ВикиКон 2025, 2 день (7).jpg|Brown-haired Central Asian women File:Baloch people in Sistan and Baluchistan and Kerman province in Iran. Canon photography .(Photographer Mustafa Meraji) 06.jpg|Brown-haired Central Asian boy </gallery>

====East Asia==== {{multiple image | image1 = Portraits of Famous Men - Emperor Ku.jpg | image2 = Portraits of Famous Men - Yüchi Gong.jpg | caption1 = Brown hair | caption2 = Black hair | header = Chinese historical portraits | total_width = 230 | align = left }} [[File:A child worker in retail, child labor in Hainan China December 2013.jpg|thumb|Chinese girl with brown hair]] [[File:Singapore Boy-with-red-clothes-during-Chinese-New-Year-2015-01.jpg|thumb|Chinese boy with brown hair]]

The natural hair color of East Asians is mostly brown to black.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://melvinshairdo.com/asian-hair-coloring-for-a-natural-look/ |title=Asian hair coloring for a natural looki |author=Melvin |date= |publisher=Melvin's Hair Do |language=en |accessdate=April 15, 2026 |quote= }}</ref> Regarding natural brown hair, Darkest brown and Dark brown to Reddish brown are the most common, and sometimes Darkest brown is mistaken for black. Medium brown hair is also quite frequent, and while light brown hair is less common than medium and dark brown, it's still present to some extent, not rare. Even hair that appears visually black can reveal its color when exposed to light if it contains natural reddish-brown pigment (pheomelanin).<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Leerunyakul K, Suchonwanit P |title=Asian Hair: A Review of Structures, Properties, and Distinctive Disorders |journal=Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol |volume=13 |issue= |pages=309–318 |date=April 2020 |doi=10.2147/CCID.S247390 |pmid=32425573 |pmc=7187942 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Like Europeans, East Asians' hair color gradually darkens with age, which is why there are more young people with brown hair.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Itou T, Ito S, Wakamatsu K |title=Effects of Aging on Hair Color, Melanosome Morphology, and Melanin Composition in Japanese Females |journal=Int J Mol Sci |volume=20 |issue=15 |pages=3739 |date=July 2019 |doi=10.3390/ijms20153739 |pmid=31370161 |pmc=6696507 |doi-access=free}}</ref> <gallery> File:President Park Geun hye Children Day 10 (17375552871).jpg|Brown-haired Korean girl and boy File:Ano Novo Chines - 3984 (8442123590).jpg|Brown-haired Chinese girl File:Girl of Tibet.jpg|alt=Brown-haired Chinese girl|Brown-haired girl from China File:People of Tibet (40830403662).jpg|Baby with light brown or blond hair from China File:NTHS 5 students playing Net Zero Town at Ciaotou Sugar Factory.jpg|Two brown-haired Chinese high school students File:Bouyei woman (2011).jpg|A brown-haired Chinese woman File:Naxi Woman (50749679586).jpg|A brown-haired woman from China (Dark chestnut brown) File:University students in a technology learning classroom.jpg|Four brown-haired Chinese students File:08.04 總統接見「中華民國第56屆全國中小學科學展覽會」各組第一名學生 (28140159314).jpg|Brown-haired Chinese primary school student File:艋舺龍山寺臺北市直轄市定古蹟寺廟 Venation 2.JPG|Chinese people are worshipping and praying to deities. Several of them have brown hair. File:Chinese woman with glasses and white shirt.jpg|Brown-haired Chinese women (Darkest Brown) File:Book reading volunteer program at Daebong Elementary School (8760841).jpg|The Korean children, the boy in the front has brown hair. </gallery>

====Southeast Asia==== thumb|Indonesian girl's brown hair [[File:Raiyani muharramah Biak senyumku 2007.jpg|thumb|A woman from Biak]] Brown hair is more common in most parts of Southeast Asia (such as the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam) due to pigmentation changes, especially among young people. <gallery> File:0235Baliuag, Bulacan Town Proper 09.jpg|Aeta child in Baliwag. </gallery>

====South Asia==== Brown hair in South Asia is typically dark brown, and some may be mistaken for black hair.

==Biochemistry== The pigment eumelanin gives brown hair its distinctive color. Brown hair has more eumelanin than blond hair but also has far less than black. There are two different types of eumelanin, which are distinguished from each other by their pattern of polymer bonds. The two types are black eumelanin and brown eumelanin. Black eumelanin is the darkest; brown eumelanin is much lighter than black. A small amount of black eumelanin in the absence of other pigments causes grey hair. A small amount of brown eumelanin without any other pigments causes yellow (blond) color hair. Often, natural blond or red hair will darken to a brown color over time. Brown-haired people have medium-thick strands of hair.

Brown-haired people are thought to produce more skin-protecting eumelanin and are associated with having a more even skin tone. The range of skin colors associated with brown hair is vast, ranging from the palest of skin tones to a dark olive complexion.

==Varieties of brown hair== Brown hair comes in a wide variety of shades from the very darkest of brown (almost black) to lightest brown (almost blond) showing small signs of blondism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ladyinfo.com/brown-hair-colors/ |title=The Best Brown Hair Colors Today |date=22 September 2011 |publisher=LadyInfo.com |access-date=25 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804074737/http://www.ladyinfo.com/brown-hair-colors/ |archive-date=4 August 2012 }}</ref> Shades of brown hair include:

* {{anchor|deepest brunette}} '''deepest brunette''': the darkest brown, which can be a very dark chocolate; sometimes appears to be off-black at a distance, and is often considered to be black.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wiggoddess.com/exclusivelyyoucolors.html |title=Hair Color Chart |last1=McAfee |first1=Clare |publisher=wiggoddess.com |access-date=25 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815055818/http://www.wiggoddess.com/exclusivelyyoucolors.html |archive-date=15 August 2012 }}</ref> Sometimes the term "dark brown" includes the darkest shade of brown. * {{anchor|dark brown}} '''dark brown''' * {{anchor|milk chocolate brown }} '''milk chocolate brown''' * {{anchor|dark chestnut brown}} ''' dark chestnut brown''' * {{anchor|light chestnut}} '''light chestnut brown''' * {{anchor|medium brown}} '''medium brown''': standard brunette, comparable to Russet brown * {{anchor|walnut brown}} '''walnut brown''': a warmer variant of medium brown, comparable to a light chestnut * {{anchor|medium brown}} '''caramel brown''': warm brown tone. * {{anchor|light golden brown}} '''light golden brown''' : the lightest brown, almost dirty blond * {{anchor|mousy}} '''mousy''': a dull light brown color, sometimes seen as a dirty blond * {{anchor|light ash brown}} '''light ash brown''': almost blond hair * {{anchor|auburn brown}} '''auburn brown''': reddish-brown hair * {{anchor|lightest brown}} '''lightest brown''': light brown that goes mid blonde in the sun * {{anchor|maple brown}} '''maple brown''': a dark golden brown color, like maple syrup <gallery class="center" widths="120" heights="200"> File:Eoin Macken.jpg|deepest brown (Eoin Macken) File:Eddie Van Halen at Emmy rehearsal (211282672) (cropped).jpg|dark brown (Eddie Van Halen) File:Brian May (2007).jpg|dark chestnut brown (Brian May) File:AGH Berlin 10-2013 img39 Antje Kapek.jpg|medium brown (Antje Kapek) File:animal print T.jpg|light brown (Italian girl) File:Girl in a Kabul orphanage, 01-07-2002.jpg|cinnamon brown (Afghan Nuristani girl) File:Ministru prezidents Valdis Dombrovskis tiekas ar Vācijas ārlietu ministru Gvido Vestervelli (7849819858) (cropped).jpg|light ash brown (Guido Westerwelle) </gallery>

==Culture==

===Cultural connotations=== In Western popular culture, a common stereotype is that brunettes are stable, serious, smart and sophisticated. According to ''Allure'' magazine, in 2005, 76 percent of American women believed that the first female president of the United States will have brown hair.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Milk |first1=Leslie |date=1 August 2005 |title=Great Hair: Coloring |journal=The Washingtonian |url=https://washingtonian.com/2005/08/01/great-hair-coloring/ |access-date=25 October 2012}}</ref>

===Modern fiction=== Anita Loos, the author of the novel and play ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'', wrote a sequel entitled ''But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes''. A film of this was made, ''Gentlemen Marry Brunettes'', starring Jane Russell and Jeanne Crain.

===Art and fiction=== The Lady of Shalott from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem is depicted as a brunette in most paintings. The woman portrayed in Leonardo da Vinci's most well-known painting, ''Mona Lisa'', is brunette. In the French folk song "Au clair de la lune", the likable Lubin visits his brunette neighbor at Pierrot's suggestion. In the Irish song "The Star of the County Down" the narrator falls in love with a woman with "nut-brown" hair, called Rose McCann.

=== Rivalry with blondes === {{Main article|Blonde versus brunette rivalry}}

In popular culture, brunettes are sometimes portrayed as being in a rivalry or competition with blonde women.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cummings |first1=Tucker |date=16 November 2011 |title=Blondes vs. Brunettes: TV Shows with Betty and Veronica-Style Love Triangles |url=https://tv.yahoo.com/news/blondes-vs-brunettes-tv-shows-betty-veronica-style-203200864.html |access-date=25 October 2012 |publisher=Yahoo! TV}}</ref>

==See also== * Human hair color * Human skin color * Eye color * Black hair * Red hair * Blond hair * Melanin

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links == {{Wiktionary|brunette|brunet}} *{{Commons category-inline|Brown hair}}

Category:Hair color Category:Brown hair