# Whats the difference between "Dark brown" and "black" hair? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2009, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-dark-brown-and-black-hair/510570 "2009-09-18T08:05:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-dark-brown-and-black-hair/510570/41 "2012-11-03T01:30:05Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > I was scrolling through this thread, not realizing that most of the discussion was from 2009, until I clicked on the Wikipedia link in post 4 and realized that first two pictures no longer match the descriptions given. Instead of being labelled ‘black’ and ‘dark brown’, the first two are now ‘straight black’ and ‘kinky black’, which confuse the discussion, and I didn’t realize they were different colors. They aren’t. Looking at the history of the Wikipedia page, in September 2009 there was a different set of photos. You can see them here: [Human hair color - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Human_hair_color&oldid=314481694) The first is the photo now labeled “straight black”, showing an anonymous Asian man. The second is labeled “dark brown” and shows actress Monica Bellucci. The third is labeled “brown” and shows musician Sharon Shannon. The photos of Bellucci and Shannon are no longer used on the current version of the page, possibly because the very different lighting conditions meant you weren’t really getting a good comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-dark-brown-and-black-hair/510570/42 "2012-11-03T03:38:22Z")
Black is black and dark brown is dark brown. Go buy a box of Crayons and take a look. Know it’s a zombie thread, had to say it. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-dark-brown-and-black-hair/510570/43 "2012-11-04T22:33:28Z")
When I was a kid, I used to think my mother’s hair was black. It was very dark brown, like Monica Bellucci’s on that old Wikipedia page. Mom would insist to me that it was dark brown, not black. Her hair had a warmer shade to it that people with truly black hair, but, as I did not come from a very diverse neighborhood, I had not seen many people in person with darker hair than Mom’s. Of course these days, her hair has more of a “salt-and-pepper” quality to it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-dark-brown-and-black-hair/510570/44 "2012-11-04T22:51:17Z")
> [@FlyingRamenMonster](#): > > Well, even black hair looks slightly brown/red with strong backlight… but all the same, I am one of those people who insist that only certain ethnic groups can have truly black hair. I’ve never seen a white person with hair that didn’t have some colour to it, for instance. Even “black” (read: very dark brown) is pretty uncommon. Heh I made a thread once about how everyone thinks I am hispanic just because I have black hair, I’ve also been told white people don’t have black hair and that I am definitely using hair dye. EDIT:Oh a zombie oh well, but at the wiki link my hair is the same color as the straight black example. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-dark-brown-and-black-hair/510570/45 "2012-11-04T23:29:33Z")
Just because I’m a troublemaker, what color is the middle light on a traffic-light? Almost everybody calls it yellow, and I sometimes get funny looks and even arguments when I call it either orange or amber. ---
**Author:** ![Frosty32631](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Frosty32631](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosty32631)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-dark-brown-and-black-hair/510570/46 "2017-01-25T19:26:07Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > There are also certainly people who insist only certain ethnic groups can have black hair and if you aren’t one of those groups then no matter how dark your hair is it _can’t_ be black, only very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very dark brown. There’s a crazy girl in my class who says my hair is black, but whenever im in a certain light, it IS brown! Does this mean that my hair is never black?:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-dark-brown-and-black-hair/510570/47 "2017-01-25T19:34:40Z")
**Moderating** **Frosty32631** , we ask that old threads in General Questions be bumped only in order to provide new factual information. Since this does not, I’m going to close this. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-dark-brown-and-black-hair/510570.md?page=2)