# Why are white babies bald? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181 "2008-09-05T13:57:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/21 "2008-09-05T23:39:42Z")
Speaking from experiences in Japanese hospitals and with Japanese baby birthing friends, MOST of them have significantly more hair than white westerners. It is true that babies like Whynot’s and my own two eggheads (got their hair genes from me, not their father, sob!) do have hair even if it is very fine and see through but it is more like peach fuzz with no length. There are of course a lot of Japanese babies with a similar amount of hair but darker, so it shows up. But there are also a lot of babies who need haircuts (literally!) at about three or four months. My kids first haircuts were around two to three years of age! My husband’s hair in his 100 days photo is about three inches long and stands straight up. This is the case for maybe half the babies I know right now. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/22 "2008-09-06T01:48:47Z")
Here’s my all Caucasian daughter, 15 minutes after birth. Despite the cap, you can see quite the dark head of hair. [![](http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/chloe_newborn.jpg) ](http://www.jordansteele.com/forumlinks/chloe_newborn.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/23 "2008-09-06T11:01:17Z")
All my children had a lot of hair, my grandchildren and great grandchildren as well. Never heard that white babies were bald, A friend’s daughter had a mixed race baby and she was not bald but close to it. Monavis ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/24 "2008-09-06T12:48:36Z")
Slight hi-jack: Is it true that a baby having a great mess of hair can complicate the birth? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/25 "2008-09-06T14:42:48Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > Slight hi-jack: Is it true that a baby having a great mess of hair can complicate the birth? Here’s a well intentioned hint. Start a new thread to ask questions if you really want an answer. Use the question as the thread title if possible. This will get you a better response. I don’t know the answer to what you asked. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/26 "2008-09-06T14:48:03Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > Slight hi-jack: Is it true that a baby having a great mess of hair can complicate the birth? Not that I’ve ever heard of or witnessed. Although there is now research from Johns Hopkins showing that the old wives’ tale of “mothers who have heartburn during pregnancy have babies with more hair” is actually correct. [Registered & Protected by Markmonitor](http://www.parenting.com/article/Pregnancy/Symptoms-and-Fixes/Test-Your-Pregnancy-IQ) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/27 "2008-09-06T17:11:08Z")
> [@davidw](#): > > Speaking generally, it seems that white babies are born bald, while babies of all other ethnic groups are born with hair. Why is that? No baby ever born in my family has been bald, and except for some adoptions and my brother in law, we’re all as white as snow. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2022, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/29 "2022-08-07T20:40:26Z")
Okay, I’m curious what kind of spammer bumped this. An ad for white baby hair shampoo? A trailer for _White Babies Can’t Jump_, the long-awaited movie prequel? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/30 "2022-08-07T20:44:14Z")
Any baby born with this thread is now a surly adolescent. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/31 "2022-08-07T20:58:40Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Okay, I’m curious what kind of spammer bumped this. Probably someone who has been instructed to google for any discussion involving the word “bald” and posts a glowing endoresment for Acme Hair Transplant Clinic. Certain raptor-oriented orthithological forums are also scratching their (well-endowed) heads, as are hiker forums discussing the best route up various mountains. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/32 "2022-08-07T22:53:30Z")
> [@Staggerlee](#): > > … Aren’t **caucasian** babies … > [@corkboard](#): > > …like their parents, are **caucasian** … > [@Jman](#): > > … **Caucasian** daughter,… Bolding mine Nitpick - since this is Factual Question. South Asians, Indians and many other people are also Caucasians. Caucasian does not mean white !! " The [United States National Library of Medicine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Library_of_Medicine) often used the term “Caucasian” as a race in the past. However, it later discontinued such usage in favor of the more narrow geographical term _European_ , which traditionally only applied to a subset of Caucasoids.[[75]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race#cite_note-78)" > **[Caucasian race | Usage in the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race#Usage_in_the_United_States)** > > Besides its use in anthropology and related fields, the term "Caucasian" has often been used in the United States in a different, social context to describe a group commonly called "white people". "White" also appears as a self-reporting entry in the U.S. Census. Naturalization as a United States citizen was restricted to "free white persons" by the Naturalization Act of 1790, and later extended to other resident populations by the Naturalization Act of 1870, Indian Citizenship Act of 192 The Uni... ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2022, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/33 "2022-08-07T23:04:20Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > Nitpick - since this is Factual Question. > South Asians, Indians and many other people are also Caucasians. Isn’t this like insisting that a tomato is a fruit? As in - it’s a word that has different meanings in different usage contexts. And in fact, unlike the technical usage in which a tomato is a fruit, I don’t think there is a technical sense in which Caucasian means anything at all. Isn’t it generally regarded as obsolete? It doesn’t correspond to _any_ well defined taxon. If it has no technical meaning at all, I’m not sure on what basis you can claim that as a factual matter it includes South Asians and Indians. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2022, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/34 "2022-08-07T23:17:16Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I’m not sure on what basis you can claim that as a factual matter it includes South Asians and Indians. I provided the quote in my original post. Here is an excerpt from that : " _The Caucasoid peoples were usually divided into three groups on ethnolinguistic grounds, termed [Aryan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race) ([Indo-European](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages)), [Semitic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitic_race) ([Semitic languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitic_languages)), and [Hamitic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamitic_race) (Hamitic languages i.e. [Berber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berber_languages)-[Cushitic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cushitic_languages)-[Egyptian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_language)).[[57]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race#cite_note-60)_ _19th century [classifications of the peoples of India](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_groups_in_India_(historical_definitions)) were initially uncertain if the [Dravidians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravidians) and the [Sinahalese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhalese_people) were Caucasoid or a separate Dravida race, but by and in the 20th century, anthropologists predominantly declared Dravidians to be Caucasoid.["_ > [@Riemann](#): > > Isn’t this like insisting that a tomato is a fruit? This being FQ, Please provide a cite for your assertion. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2022, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/35 "2022-08-07T23:20:29Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Okay, I’m curious what kind of spammer bumped this. An ad for white baby hair shampoo? A trailer for _White Babies Can’t Jump_, the long-awaited movie prequel? - I can’t recall the exact wording, but it was just several words strung together which made no sense and had nothing to do with the topic. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2022, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/36 "2022-08-07T23:29:20Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > This being FQ, Please provide a cite for your assertion. Any dictionary will tell you that one definition for Caucasian is a synonym for “White”. Definition per Google’s source (Oxford Languages): > 1.NORTH AMERICAN > white-skinned; of European origin. > “twenty of the therapists were Caucasian, two were African American, and two were Hispanic” > 2. > relating to the Caucasus. [Merriam Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Caucasian), throwing in a dig on this specific issue: > ## Caucasian vs. White > > [_Caucasian_](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Caucasian) has two fairly distinct meanings, and the difference between them occasionally leads people to [aver](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aver) that one of them is incorrect. The earliest sense of the word is a literal one: “of or relating to the Caucasus (a region in southeastern Europe between the Black and Caspian seas) or its inhabitants.” The second refers to the racial group commonly referred to as [_white_](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/white). > > The objection to using _Caucasian_ to refer to a white person is that many whites do not actually come from the Caucasus region. Be this as it may, there is no rule in language stipulating that the formation of a word must be based on logic; were this the case we would not call members of this racial group either _Caucasian_ or _white_, since there are very few whose skin color is in fact that exact shade. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2022, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/37 "2022-08-07T23:32:06Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > I provided the quote in my original post. And that doesn’t challenge what I said. You may be correct about historical technical usage, but it’s an _obsolete and scientifically discredited_ technical usage. That’s a pretty flimsy basis on which to be pedantically lecturing people that any alternative widely accepted common (non-technical) usage is wrong. Try the very first sentence of the Wikipedia article that you linked to: [Caucasian race - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race) > The **Caucasian race** … is an [obsolete racial classification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_race_concepts) of human beings based on a now-disproven theory of biological race. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181/38 "2022-08-09T06:31:45Z")
> [@davidw](#): > > Speaking generally, it seems that white babies are born bald, while babies of all other ethnic groups are born with hair. Why is that? The tie in with the blonde and white skinned northern european seams to be evolutionary advantage is surviving the harsh winters with little nutrition. The baby that didnt waste nutrients on growing hair, survived … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-white-babies-bald/462181.md?page=1)