If you have blue eyes, you’re related (sort of) to every other person who has blue eyes. This is because the hazel pigment level has a unique ability to reflect light in strange ways, giving off the perception of a shifting iris color. If you or someone you know has hazel eyes, you may have noticed the eye color “changing” from time to time. As a whole, only about 5% of the global population has hazel-colored eyes. Most of the bronze color tends to settle near the outer edge of the iris, while tiny streaks of brown, green and even gold are seen closer to the pupil.īut like green eyes, hazel eyes tend to be much rarer elsewhere in the world. And be sure to keep up with routine eye exams.Ī blend of brown and green, hazel eyes represent 18% of the American population. So get those gorgeous green eyes in to see a local eye doctor today. Those with light-colored eyes are also more likely to experience vision problems. Wherever you reside, lighter eyes (like green) are more sensitive to the sun. But they're not necessarily the rarest in all parts of the world. Green eyes are the rarest, globally speaking. SEE RELATED: How eye color develops and why it changes Only 2% of the world’s population has green eyes, according to the demography resource World Atlas. This is why green eyes are so unique.Īnd while 9% is indeed rare, green eyes have an even lower eye color percentage across the globe. Green irises have an uncommon melanin level - less than “truly” brown eyes, but more than blue eyes. Iris color is determined by our parents’ eye colors mixed with a little genetic lottery. Light bounces off this melanin in different ways and creates a sort of optical illusion, allowing us to see vibrant greens and blues. And just like our skin, less melanin means lighter colors, while more melanin equals darker colors.Įvery eye color - yes, even green - is actually some shade of brown, thanks to the melanin inside the iris. A pigment called melanin is responsible for that color - the same pigment that determines the color of our skin. Surrounding each pupil, the colored portion of our eyes is called the iris. Just how rare are green eyes? Fewer than one out of every 10 Americans (9%) has them. In addition to being the rarest eye color among Americans, green eyes are the most attractive, according to 66,000 people who voted in our survey. The results are listed below, ordered from most rare to most common. The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) conducted a survey to determine the eye color percentage of people across America. It can be hard to even imagine what you’d look like with a different eye color. The color of our eyes tends to play a big part in our self image and, in some cases, can be a genetic throwback to your family tree. That certainly isn’t the case any longer. Once upon a time, every human in existence had brown eyes. Other colors like gray or hazel are less common.

Outside of a few exceptions, nearly everyone has eyes that are brown, blue, green or somewhere in between. Green is the rarest eye color of the more common colors.

Yellow eyes