Here Are 13 Fun Facts About Red Hair On World Redhead Day

Today, May 26th, is World Redhead Day. If you are lucky enough to have red hair, you are definitely special, and you should take this day to celebrate.

Having red hair is extremely rare, but there are other traits that often go along with being a redhead. Scroll down to discover 13 fun facts in honor of this special Redhead Day.

  1. Eye Color

    It is extremely rare to have both red hair and blue eyes. How rare? There is only a 0.17% chance of a person having both of these recessive traits. Most redheads have green, hazel or brown eyes.

  2. Left-Handed

    Most redheads tend to be left-handed. Researchers aren’t entirely sure why this is the case, but it could be due to the fact that both red hair and being left-handed are recessive traits. More often than not, recessive traits happen in pairs.

  3. Parents’ Genes

    A child can have red hair even if their parents don’t have red hair, but in order to have red hair, both parents have to be carriers for the gene that causes red hair color.

  4. Skin Cancer

    Redheads have a higher risk of skin cancer than people with other hair colors.

  5. Two RedHead Holidays

    While May 26th is World Redhead Day, redheads also get another holiday in November called National Love Your Red Hair Day.

  6. Hair Strands

    Red hair is thicker than other hair colors. Redheads have thicker hair, but they also have fewer hair strands than people with other hair colors. Brunettes have the most hair strands, around 140,000. Blonds have about 110,000 hair strands. Meanwhile, redheads only have about 90,000 hair strands.

  7. Grey Hair

    As redheads get older, their hair color will eventually change from red to blond to white, but it is extremely unusual for a redhead to end up with grey hair.

  8. Prostate Cancer

    Men with red hair have a lower risk of prostate cancer than people with other hair colors.

  9. Pain

    Redheads are more sensitive to pain than people with other hair colors.

  10. Where Redheads Live

    Scotland and Ireland have the highest popular of redheads.

  11. Commercials

    Redheads are featured in about 30% of commercials. Considering only about 2% of the world’s population has red hair, that is quite disproportionate.

  12. Vitamin D

    People with red hair naturally produce more vitamin D than people with other hair colors.

  13. Largest Redhead Festival

    New Zealand has the largest redhead festival in the world. It’s called New Zealand’s Redhead Days Festival.