Every Eye Color (and How They’re Determined)

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Ophthalmologist Brian Boxer Wachler, MD, shares which eye colors are the rarest

Co-authored by Brian Boxer Wachler, MD and Amy Bobinger, BA

Last Updated: July 1, 2026 Fact Checked

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Every Eye Color

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What creates color?

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Genetics & Eye Color

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Heterochromia

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Can you predict eye color?

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The eyes might be the window to the soul, but have you ever really stopped to think about what goes into determining a person’s eye color? The shade of your eyes is actually a complex mix of genetics, pigments, and light. We’re taking a deep dive, from the different shades of people’s eyes to what creates color in the eye and how genetics plays a part—plus, exclusive insights from an ophthalmologist.

Chart of Different Eye Colors

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An illustrated chart showing different eye colors, including brown, blue, hazel, amber, gray, green, violet, and red or pink

Ophthalmologist Brian Boxer Wachler, MD, says that most babies are born with blue eyes, which then change color as melanin is deposited on the surface of the iris. Here are the different eye colors (and how many people have them):

Brown (belonging to 70-80% of people)^{[1]
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Blue (belonging to 8-10% of people)
Hazel (belonging to 5% of people)
Amber (belonging to 5% of people)
Gray (belonging to 3% of people)
Green (belonging to 1–2% of people)
Violet (belonging to as few as 0.01% of people)
Red/Pink (belonging to as few as 0.01% of people)

Section 1 of 5:

Every Eye Color

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Brown Brown eyes are the most common in the world, and they’re caused by the highest concentration of melanin in the iris. Shades range from honey brown to light brown and dark brown, and in some cases, they can even be so dark as to appear black.^{[2]
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- Percentage of people with brown eyes: 70-80%
Meet the wikiHow Expert

Brian Boxer Wachler, MD has been an ophthalmologist for over 30 years. He specializes in the cornea and anterior segment of the eye. He's also pioneered numerous procedures and published over 50 articles in peer-reviewed literature.
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Blue Blue eyes are much rarer than brown eyes. They’re the result of a lack of melanin in the front layers of the iris—scattered light makes them appear blue. It’s believed that blue eyes are the result of a single genetic variation that occurred in Europe around 6,000–10,000 years ago.^{[3]
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- Dr. Boxer Wachler says that most babies are born with blue eyes. Then, melanin is deposited on the surface of the iris, making their eyes become brown, hazel, or green. He adds that there can even be variations of color within the iris, too.^{[4]
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- Percentage of people with blue eyes: 8-10%
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Hazel Hazel eyes fall somewhere in between green and brown. There is some melanin present in the eyes, and the way light reflects adds a distinctive golden-greenish tint. Because the color is determined by the way light reflects, hazel eyes can appear to change colors depending on the person’s location or the time of day.^{[5]
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- Percentage of people with hazel eyes: 5%
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Amber Amber eyes have a little more melanin than hazel eyes, but a little less than brown eyes. They also have a yellowish pigment called lipochrome. This gives them a distinctive golden-brown hue that’s totally unique.
- Percentage of people with amber eyes: 5%
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Gray Gray eyes are similar to blue eyes—they result from having less melanin in the front layers of the iris. But people with gray eyes have a higher concentration of collagen fibers in their iris, so the light reflects differently, leading to a muted gray appearance.^{[6]
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- Percentage of people with gray eyes: 3%
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Green Green eyes are one of the rarest colors in the world, says Dr. Boxer Wachler.^{[7]
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Expert Interview} People with green eyes have more melanin in their irises than people with blue eyes—the green color is a combination of a very light golden brown layer in the iris, plus a blue cast due to light scattering. Green eyes often have flecks of gold or a bluer ring around the outside.^{[8]
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- Percentage of people with green eyes: Around 1%, notes Dr. Boxer Wachler.^{[9]
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Violet, red, or pink Violet eyes are very rare. They’re often the result of albinism, which causes a lack of pigment in the eyes. But some people without albinism can have very pale blue eyes that appear violet due to the way the light reflects off the iris.^{[10]
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- Rarely, people with albinism have clear irises that don’t have any melanin. This gives the eyes a pink or red cast because you can see the blood vessels in the iris.
- Percentage of people with red eyes: As few as 0.01%

Section 2 of 5:

What creates color in the eyes?

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Eye color is determined by pigmentation and light scattering. The front layers of the iris hold a pigment called melanin, which helps determine the color, explains Dr. Wachler.^{[11]
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Brian Boxer Wachler, MD
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Expert Interview} Brown eyes have a lot of melanin in the iris, while blue and grey eyes have very little. Green, hazel, and amber eyes fall somewhere in the middle.^{[12]
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- Melanin may help provide protection from the sun, which is likely why people from areas that get a lot of sunlight, like Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia, tend to have higher concentrations of melanin. That’s why brown eyes are more common in those areas.^{[13]
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- Additionally, a phenomenon called Tyndall scattering affects the way light reflects off the collagen fibers in the iris. In much the same way that the sky appears blue, a person’s eyes can appear blue, grey, or green due to scattered light. But blue and green pigments aren’t actually present in people’s eyes.^{[14]
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Section 3 of 5:

Role of Genetics in Eye Color

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Eye color is polygenic, which means it’s determined by multiple genes. Your eye color might be more unique than you thought—it’s thought that at least 8–10 genes play a role in determining the shade of your eyes. That means a child can be born with an eye color that’s completely different than their parents, as long as the parents carry those genes.^{[15]
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- The two genes primarily responsible for eye color are OCA2 (determines how much melanin is present) and HERC2 (turns the OCA2 gene on or off).
- A person’s sex may also influence the color of their eyes—men are more likely to have lighter-colored eyes, while women are more likely to have darker eyes.^{[16]
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- Some conditions can also affect eye color, like albinism, illnesses, or eye injuries.

Section 4 of 5:

What is heterochromia?

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Heterochromia is when a person’s eyes are different colors. These changes may occur from one eye to the other, or the color variation may happen within the same iris. People are usually born with heterochromia, although it can sometimes be caused by an eye injury or certain illnesses. There are three types of heterochromia:^{[17]
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- Complete heterochromia: One eye is a completely different color from the other
- Partial heterochromia: One segment of the iris is a different color from the rest of the eye
- Central heterochromia: The inner ring of the iris is a different color from the outer ring

Section 5 of 5:

Can you predict a baby’s eye color?

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You can only determine the probability of a baby’s eye color. Because there are so many genes involved in determining eye color, it’s difficult to know for sure exactly what shade a baby’s eyes will be. Even if the parents both have the same eye color, the baby could be born with a completely different shade.^{[18]
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- People used to think that having brown eyes was a dominant trait while having blue eyes was a recessive one. Under that thinking, two brown-eyed parents could have a blue-eyed child if both had a recessive gene for blue eyes, but two blue-eyed parents could not have a brown-eyed child. But now we know it’s a lot more complex than that.