# What people's produce red hair? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388 "2004-02-10T03:42:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SeanRonJohnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@SeanRonJohnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeanRonJohnson)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/1 "2004-02-10T03:42:27Z")
I mean I hear most of it comes from having Irish blood, but isn’t there other people that produce red hair? Isn’t there some Pacific Island with red haired natives, I think I heard that before. And I do realize that red hair is a very submissive trait. ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/2 "2004-02-10T03:54:57Z")
> [@SeanRonJohnson](#): > > I mean I hear most of it comes from having Irish blood, but isn’t there other people that produce red hair? Isn’t there some Pacific Island with red haired natives, I think I heard that before. > > And I do realize that red hair is a very submissive trait. Although the Irish are probably most famous for it, red hair shows up in population groups all over the place. Seems I’ve seen Africans with red/reddish hair. I’m afraid I don’t know what part of Africa they hail from, though. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/3 "2004-02-10T04:05:52Z")
> [@SeanRonJohnson](#): > > And I do realize that red hair is a very submissive trait. Say what?? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/4 "2004-02-10T04:13:57Z")
Uh, that’s “recessive,” **SRJ** -dude. _Snicker_ A submissive trait? Not the redheads **I’ve** known! ---
**Author:** ![SeanRonJohnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@SeanRonJohnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeanRonJohnson)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/5 "2004-02-10T04:29:41Z")
Curses, I shouldn’t surf the net at night, I get careless. Big laughs all around. I did mean recessive. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/6 "2004-02-10T05:07:49Z")
> [@Mephisto](#): > > Although the Irish are probably most famous for it, red hair shows up in population groups all over the place. The Irish got red hair from the Danish invaders 😉 Gilgamesh had red hair IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/7 "2004-02-10T08:40:18Z")
Maybe it originated from the old men of the jungle (orangutans) or one of our common ancestors. Maybe the better question is what benefit does red hair provide in evolutionary terms. Is it advantagous in some way? (Besides being really sexy…Hey, maybe that’s it after all. A colorful mate attractant?) ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/8 "2004-02-10T11:04:04Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > The Irish got red hair from the Danish invaders 😉 Nope, Norwegian. The Danes stuck to the East coast of England. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/9 "2004-02-10T11:07:21Z")
I’m afraid you have fallen for the Irish blarney. The highest percentage of redheads in the world is to be found in **Scotland** , where it estimated that between 11 and 13 percentage of the population are redheads. It is further estimated that something like [40% of the population](http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_80720.html) carry the gene that causes it. And the “orangutan” theory qualifies for the stupidest suggestion I’ve seen here this week. ---
**Author:** ![nickannan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bcef8e/32.png) [@nickannan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nickannan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/10 "2004-02-10T11:14:50Z")
[QUOTE=Futile Gesture] It is further estimated that something like [40% of the population](http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_80720.html) carry the gene that causes it. QUOTE] yep, scotsman here. My hair is a dark blonde but indeed my beard (when grown) is flecked with red (ginger) as are many of the people polled just now. nick ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/11 "2004-02-10T12:28:01Z")
Didn’t Malcom X have red hair, or something like that? ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/12 "2004-02-10T14:01:39Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Maybe the better question is what benefit does red hair provide in evolutionary terms. Is it advantagous in some way? There have been studies done that link the red-hair gene to [pain tolerance](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/Healthology/HS_redheads021016.html). Their sensitivity to pain tends to be higher than in non-redheads, and they’re less responsive to anaesthesia. I don’t see how that’s necessarily a benefit, though. But from the same article: “2000 study suggested red hair may accumulate drugs at a different rate than hair of other colors, thus letting redheads pass drug tests more easily than brunettes.” Now could **that** be interpreted as an evolutionary advantage?? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shepherdless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Shepherdless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shepherdless)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/13 "2004-02-10T14:19:33Z")
It’s generally believed that the ginger gene responsible for red hair is a recent mutation that developed among northern european tribes and spread throughout europe and eurasia via the Vikings. From this [article](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/819117.stm) : > [@](#): > > It is thought that, since pale-skinned redheads needed less sunshine to get the necessary vitamins to fend off the condition, they flourished in cooler, less sunny climates. I’ve just stumbled on another [news story](http://www.planetsave.com/ViewStory.asp?ID=488) that says the red hair gene came from the Neanderthals, who possibly interbred with Cro-Magnon, our ancestor. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/14 "2004-02-10T20:52:33Z")
> [@Futile Gesture](#): > > And the “orangutan” theory qualifies for the stupidest suggestion I’ve seen here this week. Now, why is that such a leap to take? And why is it so stupid? It’s a logical assessment. “You see, some Orangutan’s Great Great Great ad inf. Grandaddy boinked your Great Great Great ad inf. Grandma …” (in my best Dennis Hopper deadpan.) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/15 "2004-02-10T21:20:47Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > Didn’t Malcom X have red hair, or something like that? He did, having a mulatto mother. In Harlem he was nicknamed “Detroit Red” for his hometown and hair color. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/16 "2004-02-11T00:36:37Z")
…but you, YOU **Futile Gesture** are an Eggplant! ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/17 "2004-02-11T01:13:42Z")
What people’s produce red hair? My peoples apparently, and that woud be a combination of Czechoslovakian and English grandparents. It used to be red, but, now it’s a silvery blond…don’t know why that happened… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kevin\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kevin\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevin_H)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/18 "2004-02-11T01:39:58Z")
What counts as red hair? Is it only the bright orange hair that you see on some people or is it other types as well? I have strawberry blonde hair and some people call me a redhead and others don’t. Also, I don’t know if this is related to the anesthesia, but I need more novacaine than most people according to my dentist, because it took a ton to get me numb for a filling, and in the past I had been numb, but it still hurt, so apparentely I didn’t have enough. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/19 "2004-02-11T02:53:37Z")
You will also see (dark) red hair in some Australian Aboriginals. Not from intermarrying with Europeans, but as a native trait. The red hair seen is sub-Sahara African populations is probably most commonly due to 1) smearing the hair with ocre or a similarly colored substance or 2) malnutrition (one of the symptons of which is the hair turning reddish). ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388/20 "2004-02-11T03:22:10Z")
Scotland – Norway – Ireland – Take your Pict. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-peoples-produce-red-hair/228388.md?page=2)