# Why are red-haired people called "ginger"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 7, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-red-haired-people-called-ginger/466906 "2008-10-07T21:34:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-red-haired-people-called-ginger/466906/21 "2008-10-08T21:51:01Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > The first time I noticed it was in the last Harry Potter book, “Ditch Ginger, and come have a drink with us…” > > Why is this considered an insult, though? Sort of just refering to someone in the generic sense? Correct! It’s not an insult in the context of the quote you gave. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-red-haired-people-called-ginger/466906/22 "2008-10-08T22:05:45Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Hijack: What is the point of bumping a thread a mere _ten minutes_ after it’s been opened? What does it accomplish? I noticed the Thread, & was interested. No more reason needed than that. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-red-haired-people-called-ginger/466906/23 "2008-10-08T22:33:54Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > I noticed the Thread, & was interested. No more reason needed than that. What I do in such cases is simply to subscribe to the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-red-haired-people-called-ginger/466906/24 "2008-10-08T23:32:35Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > More to the point… why is having red hair considered a bad thing in the UK? The term “Ginger” seems to be considered a slur. The use of the term in any context is rare in the US, and never as an insult. Isn’t that likely to be because the higher incidence of red hair amongst the Scots and Irish (as oppose to the English)? ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-red-haired-people-called-ginger/466906/25 "2008-10-08T23:38:51Z")
(missed window) Just to clarify: isn’t the “ginger” insult in the UK then a form of (or derived from a form of) ethnic slur? ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-red-haired-people-called-ginger/466906/26 "2008-10-09T01:09:42Z")
> [@Bad\_Astronaut](#): > > Obviously you haven’t seen the above mentioned episode of South Park! > > As an aside, I too had never heard the term until I saw that episode. Cartman taught me everything I know about Gingers: They never sleep. They’re afraid of sunlight. And they have no souls. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-red-haired-people-called-ginger/466906/27 "2008-10-09T01:43:25Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I think it’s like goldfish, which are orange; or red onions, which are purple; or white wine which is light yellowish-green…:smack: Check out [white](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_rhino) and [black](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Rhinoceros) rhinos. Madness. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-red-haired-people-called-ginger/466906/28 "2008-10-09T03:53:35Z")
I had always assumed it came from the orange gingernut biscuits e.g. see [http://www.ciao.co.uk/Mcvitie\_s\_Original\_Ginger\_Nuts\_\_Review\_5421945](http://www.ciao.co.uk/Mcvitie_s_Original_Ginger_Nuts__Review_5421945) ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-red-haired-people-called-ginger/466906/29 "2008-10-09T11:02:34Z")
The Doctor was rather disappointed to find his latest regeneration didn’t make him ginger. “That’s the kind of man I am - rude and not ginger”. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-red-haired-people-called-ginger/466906/30 "2008-10-09T11:32:41Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > (missed window) > > Just to clarify: isn’t the “ginger” insult in the UK then a form of (or derived from a form of) ethnic slur? It can be used as a slur against homosexuals (rhyming slang _ginger beer_ = queer) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-red-haired-people-called-ginger/466906/31 "2008-10-09T12:25:45Z")
> **[Red hair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_hair)** > > Red hair, also known as orange hair or ginger hair, is a human hair color found in 1–2% of the world population, appearing with greater frequency (2–6%) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and lesser frequency in other populations. It is most common in individuals homozygous for a recessive allele on chromosome 16 that produces an altered version of the MC1R protein. > Red hair varies in hue from a deep burgundy or bright copper, or auburn, to burnt orange or red-orange t... It doesn’t appear that “ginger” used as an insult in the U.K. has anything to do with insulting the Scots or Irish, since red hair in pretty common in the U.K. Other than the _South Park_ episode, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the term “ginger” used for hair in the U.S. I don’t think that there needs to be any deep reason for a physical characteristic being used by somebody somewhere as an insult. There are insults for people based on their height or weight, for instance. Basically some people will use anything available to have someone to pick on. ---
**Author:** ![Klaus\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@Klaus\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klaus_K)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2008, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-red-haired-people-called-ginger/466906/32 "2008-10-09T12:44:33Z")
I haven’t seen the South Park episode, but (to my mind) it’s interesting that when the term is used as an insult in the UK, the two 'g’s are pronounced in their ‘hard’ form. When used as a spice the 'g’s are usually ‘soft’. [ul] Soft form: jin-jer [/ul] [ul] [li]Hard form: gin-ger ( like ‘grin’, without the ‘r’)[/li][/ul] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-red-haired-people-called-ginger/466906.md?page=1)