But within 12 to 18 months, more melanin can accumulate in the iris, causing eye color to change from blue to green, hazel or brown. Due to complex variations and interactions of genes, it's hard to say with certainty what color eyes a child might end up with.Īlso, the eyes of many Caucasian babies contain very little melanin at birth and will appear blue the first few months of life. So it's very possible for children in the same family to have different eye colors - including colors different than those of their parents. In fact, there is evidence that up to 16 genes can influence eye color.

But predicting eye color from your family tree is more difficult than you might expect. And those with a high concentration of melanin are medium or dark brown.Įye color is an inherited trait. Eyes with a bit more melanin are green, hazel or light brown. The amount of this pigment (called melanin) in the iris of your eye determines the color of your eyes.Įyes with very little melanin in the iris are blue. What causes brown eyes?Įven though there are different eye colors, including less common blue eyes and green eyes, there is only one type of eye color pigment. READ MORE about the most common eye colors. There is plenty of variation in the appearance brown eyes (even within a given shade) from person to person. If you include hazel eyes (sometimes called hazel brown eyes), the prevalence is even higher.īut a high prevalence of brown eye color doesn't mean all brown eyes look the same. In the United States, an estimated 41% of the population has brown eyes - including dark brown eyes, light brown eyes and honey brown eyes. In Europe, the prevalence and shade of brown eyes vary significantly from region to region. Dark brown eye color also is very common in the Middle East. Most people living in Africa and Asia have dark brown eyes. But the prevalence of brown eyes varies significantly with geography. Brown eyes are more common worldwide than any other eye color.

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