What is the Origin and Reason for Gray Eyes?

What is the Origin and Reason for Gray Eyes?

Chapters:
0:00 Gray Eyes
0:35 Gray vs Blue Eyes
1:23 Origin of Gray Eyes
2:08 Physiological Reasons for Gray Eyes
4:59 Broader Reason for Gray Eyes

What is the origin of gray eyes, what are some of the differences between gray and blue eyes, and why did gray eyes develop in the first place? Now gray eyes are generally considered the second-rarest eye color in the world after green, with estimates of around 3% of the global population having them, and they are super rare in the US, at less than 1% of the population.

An interesting point to note is that gray eyes were actually included in the first ever Clinical iris colour classification scale going all the way back to 1843. The scale included 5 color categories: Gray; Blue; Hazel; Brown; & Black. So how can you tell if you have gray eyes vs blue eyes? Well although this isn’t an exact science, gray eyes obviously have much more of a gray hue to them than blue eyes and usually look a bit more cloudy. Under magnification as well, gray eyes often exhibit small flecks of yellow and brown in the iris, with this photo showing that detail quite well.

Although people with blue eyes can also have flecks of other colors as well, my eyes are blue for instance but they have flecks of yellow in them, it is more unusual for people with blue eyes to have flecks of brown in them as well. It can be tricky however to separate certain eye colors in general, especially in certain lighting conditions. To make matters more confusing as well, there can also be variations in color and hybrid eye colors, with Blue-grey, green-grey, and even hazel-grey hues possible.

So what is the origin of gray eyes? What we do know is that gray eyes, although rare, are found in higher rates among the Algerian Shawia people of Northwest Africa, as well as in the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. They are also found at relatively higher rates in Europe, especially in countries such as Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Ireland and Finland.

Now let’s look at some of the physiological reasons and theories for gray eyes, which also further explains how they differ from blue eyes.

Sources:

Light therapy: Not just for seasonal depression? - Harvard Health

Why is the sky blue? - Met Office

Are grey eyes rare? Discover more about this unique eye colour Are grey eyes rare? Discover more about this unique eye colour - Glasses Direct Blog

The World's Population By Eye Color - WorldAtlas

Chaoui people - Wikipedia

Melanin - Wikipedia

Mie scattering - Wikipedia

Rayleigh scattering - Wikipedia

Creative Commons Imagery:

#grayeyes #genetics #ancestry

[celtichistorydecoded]

Thanks for watching! Please let me know your thoughts below...

[sallyreno]

I have gray eyes. Enormously, painfully light sensitive. On the other hand, I have thumping night vision.

[cynsi]

Yep, American here with West European ancestry and I have grey eyes… today. Other days they are grey-green when they feel like changing. And I hate the brightness, living in “The South” we get plenty of sun! ☀️ I live in dark sunglasses. 😎 ✌🏻

[boogoodie]

I have grey eyes, with a hint of blue. My son and 5 siblings are the same. We got them from our dad. They have different colour flecks in them. I've always wished for bluer ones, or green, but I just appreciate that they work.

[christianmolick]

Now you've done it. I've got grey/green eyes and now I'm feeling all special like.

[calamityjenn]

At school, kids used to call me Exorcist because of my fair skin and gray eyes. I used to want colored contacts until I met my husband, and he told me they were the feature he fell in love with first. The only negative now is super sensitivity to light.

[MsBizzyGurl]

Yep. Mine are changeable depending on what I wear: sometimes grey, green or pale blue.

[RobeyKenobi]

Mine are grayish blue with the gold/brown specs. My eyes seem to change color and sometimes look greenish.

[eboshi]

My mom is from Northern Germany and has grey eyes. She was very proud of them and had many complaints through the years from strangers. I was born with brown eyes and wished I had her eye color growing up. Also, her grey eyes had a neat trick of reflecting the color of the shirts she wear if the light hits right. This was very informative, thank you.

[TheBigdaddy]

My son has hazel-green- grey eyes. They shift colors according to the color of clothes he wears. Light levels also change his eyes.

[isabellesender]

Yep, I have grey eyes. When I moved to the US, they marked me as blue eyes. Also, I was once pulled over for speeding. The PO insisted that I update my DL to state my real eye color. Green. Lol, I was wearing a green shirt.
BTW, I'm 1/3 Algerian from the Berber tribe.💕💕💕

[krisjustin]

A driver’s license clerk wrote ‘blue’ for my eyes, but an eye specialist said they were gray! I hate bright sunlight as well and sunglasses are a must, even when I use my iPhone or iPad sometimes! Thank you Viking forebears! Could have left me in Norway!

[prioritytarget]

I'm of Scots-Irish heritage and have grey eyes.

There's a guy on YouTube called Rainbolt who is maybe the world's best geoguesser, and he has grey eyes.

Caitlin Clark of the WNBA also has grey eyes.

[xbjoqgu]

Northwest European's have quite the diverse eye and hair colour. I'm Scots-Irish, my hair is light brown with a blonde tinge. My beard is brown with a red tinge but my moustache is yellow. Eyes are light blue.. Superb video!

[slainemccool]

I'm an Irishman with gray eyes although they can look faded green in certain lighting

[blueskye]

I’ve seen opaque grey eyes in South Texas among people with Spanish heritage. Pale skin, black hair and grey eyes. Very beautiful combo.

[sherrycantrell]

Yep! I have grey eyes. For years everyone thought I had blue and I even would call my eyes blue for limited options to choose from when describing my color. Then I realized my eyes aren't blue at all. They are grey with yellow and brown flecks in them. Definitely grey and I love them. My youngest son also has beautiful grey eyes.

[chandleryoung]

I’m Irish/Scottish/welsh and German with a small amount of Native American, South Asian, and African DNA on 23andme and I have gray eyes. They usually look dark gray but can also look grey green or gray blue. I also have olive skin and my alleles on some of my skin pigmentation genes cause darker skin and hair pigmentation so i think it’s interesting how I got gene variants for eye color that make my eyes lighter pigmented but also several gene variants and alleles for darker skin and hair.

Particularly, my genotype for the SLC45A2 gene (one of the main skin pigmentation genes) on 23andme is CG, the C allele is virtually absent in Europeans and it comes from my small amount of Native American ancestry. I think it’s cool how it’s possible to have both lighter pigmentation genetic variants while also having darker pigmentation variants in the same person.

[Getayabbyupya]

I saw a young Polynesian man who worked for McDonald's, with the most stunning Grey eyes, he looked like a wolf, a rare dude indeed

[christopherhayes]

I have green-blue-grey eyes. My eye color is usually "influenced" by the color of the shirt that i'm wearing. Almost all of my ancestors from both of my family are of English descent, with some Scottish and Dutch thrown in the mix. My maternal grandfather's family came down to New Hampshire from Quebec to work in the mills there in the mid-1800s, so there may be some French too.