View source for Red hair

{{Short description|Human hair color}}
{{For|the film|Red Hair (film){{!}}''Red Hair'' (film)}}
{{Redirect|Redhead}}
{{Pp-move}}
{{Protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}}
[[File:Woman redhead natural portrait 1.jpg|thumb|Woman with red hair]]
[[File:Rupert Grint.jpg|thumb|Actor [[Rupert Grint]] with red hair]]
[[File:Portrait of Shah Ismail I. Inscribed "Ismael Sophy Rex Pers". Painted by Cristofano dell'Altissimo, dated 1552-1568.jpg|thumb|Portrait of [[Ismail I]] of Persia]]

'''Red hair''', also known as '''ginger hair''', is a [[human hair color]] found in 2–6% of people of [[northern Europe|Northern]] or [[Northwestern Europe]]an ancestry and lesser frequency in other populations. It is most common in individuals [[Zygosity#Homozygous|homozygous]] for a [[Dominance (genetics)|recessive allele]] on [[chromosome 16]] that produces an altered version of the [[melanocortin 1 receptor|MC1R]] protein.<ref name="thetech">{{cite web |last=Starr |first=D. Barry |url=https://www.thetech.org/ask-a-geneticist/articles/2004/ask44/ |title=Neither my husband nor I have redheads in our family. How did our child get red hair? |date=26 August 2004 |website=[[The Tech Interactive]] |series=Ask a Geneticist |access-date=4 August 2024 |quote=When someone has both of their MC1R genes mutated, this conversion doesn't happen anymore and you get a buildup of pheomelanin, which results in red hair}}</ref>

Red hair varies in hue from a deep [[Burgundy (color)|burgundy]] or bright [[Copper (color)|copper]], or [[auburn hair|auburn]], to [[burnt orange]] or [[red-orange]] to [[Venetian blonde|strawberry blond]]. Characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment [[pheomelanin]] and relatively low levels of the dark pigment [[eumelanin]], it is typically associated with [[Light skin|fair skin color]], lighter [[eye color]], [[freckle]]s, and sensitivity to [[ultraviolet light]].<ref name="valverde" />

Cultural reactions to red hair have been varied. The term "redhead" has been in use since at least 1510,<ref>{{cite web|title=redhead, n. and adj.|work=OED Online|url=http://oed.com/view/Entry/160309|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|access-date=7 August 2011|date=June 2011}}</ref> while the term "ginger" is sometimes used, especially in Britain and Ireland, to describe a person with red hair.

The origin of red hair can be traced to [[Central Asia]], caused by a mutation in the MC1R gene.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Scutts |first1=Joanna |title=Opinion {{!}} Red hair: a blessing or a curse? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/red-hair-a-blessing-or-a-curse/2015/06/11/8f8b2720-fe68-11e4-833c-a2de05b6b2a4_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=12 June 2015 }}</ref><ref>Jacky Collis Harvey; A History of the Redhead; 2018; Running Press; USA{{pn|date=May 2025}}</ref>

==Geographic distribution==
===Modern===
====Northern and Northwestern Europe====
Red hair is most commonly found at the [[Northern Europe|northern]] and [[Western Europe|western fringes]] of Europe;<ref name="moffat">{{cite web |last1=Moffat |first1=Alistair |date=June 30, 2017 |title=Celts' red hair could be attributed to the cloudy weather |url=https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/could-irelands-cloudy-weather-be-the-reason-for-the-stereotypical-red-hair-178077221-237789031.html |access-date=31 December 2014 |website=Irish Central}}</ref> it is centred around populations in the [[British Isles]] and is particularly associated with the [[Celtic nations]].<ref name="moffat" />

[[Scotland]] has the highest number of red-haired people per capita in the world, with the percentage of those with red hair at around 13%, followed by [[Ireland]] and [[Wales]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moffat |first1=Alistair |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zdm8BQAAQBAJ&q=13+per+cent |title=The Scots: A Genetic Journey |last2=Wilson |first2=James |date=2011-05-01 |publisher=Birlinn |pages=205–206 |isbn=978-0-85790-020-3 |access-date=6 June 2016}}</ref> The highest concentration of red head carriers in the world is found in [[Edinburgh]], making it the red head capital of the world.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mcardle |first=Helen |date=26 April 2014 |title=Auld Reekie is world capital for ginger hair |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13157439.auld-reekie-is-world-capital-for-ginger-hair/ |website=The Herald}}</ref><ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{cite news|last=Cramb |first=Auslan |title=Edinburgh is surprise capital of redheaded Britain and Ireland |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/10264427/Edinburgh-is-surprise-capital-of-redheaded-Britain-and-Ireland.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/10264427/Edinburgh-is-surprise-capital-of-redheaded-Britain-and-Ireland.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=21 April 2017|work=The Telegraph |date=24 August 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 1907, the largest ever study of hair colour in Scotland, which analysed over 500,000 people, found the percentage of Scots with red hair to be 5.3%.<ref name="Gray">{{cite journal |last1=Gray |first1=John |title=Memoir on the Pigmentation Survey of Scotland |journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |date=1907 |volume=37 |pages=375–401 |doi=10.2307/2843323 |jstor=2843323 }}</ref> 

====Eastern Europe====
[[File:Saint Sava, Bogorodica Ljeviška.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Saint Sava]], Serbian prince and Orthodox monk, was a redhead.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=North American Society for Serbian Studies |title=Serbian Studies |volume=10-11 |pages=78–90 | date=1997}}</ref>]]
{{Annotated image |float=right |width=170 |height=190 |image=4 Gift Bringers of Otto III.jpg|caption=Depiction of an [[early Slav]], 990 AD |annotations=<!--none--> |image-top=-10 |image-left=-40 |image-width=631}}
[[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] writers [[Jordanes]] and [[Procopius]] described the [[Early Slavs|early Slavic peoples]] as having ruddy hair and skin tone.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.4324/9781315843551 |title=The Early Slavs |date=2014 |last1=Dolukhanov |first1=Pavel |isbn=978-1-317-89222-9 |chapter=The Slavs, Balts and Finns |pages=137–145 |chapter-url={{GBurl|TIkABAAAQBAJ|p=137}} }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Barford |first1=Paul M. |title=The Early Slavs: Culture and Society in Early Medieval Eastern Europe |date=2001 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-3977-3 |page=59 }}</ref> Later by the 10th century, Southern Slavic populations would have darker hair and skin tone, as the Slavs assimilated the indigenous inhabitants of the Balkans, including [[Greeks|Greek]] and [[Illyrians|Illyrian]] peoples.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stanaszek |first1=Łukasz Maurycy |title=Fenotyp dawnych Słowian (VI-X w.) |trans-title=Phenotype of ancient Slavs (6th-10th centuries) |language=pl |journal=Światowit |volume=44 |issue=B |date=2001 |pages=205–212 |url=https://swiatowitwuw.pl/article/543821/pl }}</ref>

In the late 18th century, [[ethnographers]] considered the [[Udmurt people]] of the [[Volga Region]] in Russia to be "the most red-headed men in the world".<ref>{{cite book |author=Fernández-Armesto, Felipe |title=The Times guide to the peoples of Europe |publisher=Times Books |location=London |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-7230-0624-4 }}</ref> The Volga region still has one of the highest percentages of red-headed people.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harvey |first1=Jacky Colliss |title=Red: A History of the Redhead |date=2015 |publisher=Workman Publishing Company |isbn=978-1-60376-403-2 |page=85 }}</ref>

Red hair is also found amongst the [[Ashkenazi]] Jewish populations.<ref>{{cite book |author=Abel, Ernest L. |title=Jewish genetic disorders: a layman's guide |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, N.C |year=2001 |page=[https://archive.org/details/jewishgeneticdis00erne/page/229 229] |isbn=978-0-7864-0941-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/jewishgeneticdis00erne/page/229 }}</ref> In 1903, 5.6% of Polish Jews had red hair.<ref>''Elkind. Evrei Trudi Antropologitshes-kavo Amdilla, xxi.'', Moscow, 1903</ref> Other studies have found that 3.69% of Jewish women overall were found to have red hair, but around 10.9% of all Jewish men have red [[beards]].<ref>Maurice Fishberg (1911). Jews, race & environment. 99. Transaction Publishers. {{ISBN|978-1-4128-0574-2}}</ref> The [[stereotype]] that red hair is Jewish remains in parts of Eastern Europe and Russia.<ref name="Soviet Union 2001, page 106">{{cite book |last1=Hoffman |first1=Betty N. |title=Jewish Hearts: A Study of Dynamic Ethnicity in the United States and the Soviet Union |date=2001 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-4945-5 |page=106 }}</ref>

====Southern Europe====
In Italy, red hair is found at a frequency of 0.57% of the total population, without variation in frequency across the different regions of the country.<ref name="Consanguinity, Inbreeding 2013, page 270">''Consanguinity, Inbreeding, and Genetic Drift in Italy'', Princeton University Press, 15 Feb 2013, Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Antonio Moroni, Gianna Zei, page 270</ref>  In Sardinia, red hair is found at a frequency of 0.24% of the population.<ref name="Consanguinity, Inbreeding 2013, page 270" /> In Italy, red hair was associated with Italian Jews, and [[Judas]] was traditionally depicted as red-haired in Italian and Spanish art.<ref name="Judas 1982">{{cite journal |title=Judas's Red Hair and The Jews |journal=Journal of Jewish Art |volume=9 |pages=31–46 |date=1982 |last1=Melinnkoff |first1=R.M. }}</ref> In European culture, before the 20th century, red hair was often seen as a stereotypically Jewish trait: during the [[Spanish Inquisition]], all those with red hair were identified as Jewish.<ref name="European Imagination 2010">{{cite book |last1=Livak |first1=Leonid |title=The Jewish Persona in the European Imagination: A Case of Russian Literature |date=2010 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-7562-5 }}{{pn|date=May 2025}}</ref>

====North Africa and Mediterranean====
The [[Berber people|Berber]] populations of [[Morocco]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stirling |first1=John |title=The Races of Morocco |journal=Journal of the Anthropological Society of London |date=1870 |volume=8 |pages=clxix–clxxiii |doi=10.2307/3025183 |jstor=3025183 }}</ref> and northern [[Algeria]] have occasional redheads. Red hair frequency is especially significant among the [[Riffian Berbers|Riffians]] from Morocco and [[Kabyle people|Kabyles]] from Algeria,<ref name="S-Coon_RacesOfEurope2">{{cite book |last=Coon |first=Carleton Stevens |title=The Races of Europe |year=1939 |publisher=The Macmillan Company |location=New York |pages=480–482 |author-link=Carleton S. Coon |access-date=16 June 2013 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/racesofeurope031695mbp#page/n609/mode/2up |chapter=The Mediterranean World |oclc=575541610 }}</ref><ref>"Their pigmentation is characteristically brunet, but definite blonds occur. Black and dark brown hair run to 85 percent (85%) of the whole, while reds number 4 percent (4%)", [[Carleton S. Coon]], ''The Races of Europe (1939)'', Greenwood Press, 1972, p. 478</ref><ref>"There are, however, a noticeable number of Kabyles with red hair, blue eyes and [[Light skin|fair skin]]", ''Area Handbook for Algeria'', [[American University]], 1965, p. 91</ref> respectively.

====Asia (all regions)====
[[File:Uyghur-redhead.jpg|thumb|upright|A [[Uyghurs|Uyghur]] child in [[Kashgar]], China's [[Xinjiang]] region, with [[auburn hair]]]]
In Asia, red hair can be found among some peoples of [[Afghans|Afghan]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wahab |first1=Shaista |title=A Brief History of Afghanistan |last2=Youngerman |first2=Barry |date=2007 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-0819-3 |quote=northeast of Kabul, however, the local population includes many people with blond or red hair and blue or...}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Studies|first1=American University (Washington, D.C.) Foreign Area |url=|title=Area Handbook for Afghanistan|last2=Smith|first2=Harvey Henry |date=1969|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |language=en|quote=They are generally of medium, slender physique, with dark, sometimes red, hair}}</ref> [[Arabs|Arab]], [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]], [[Indian people|East Indians]], [[Mongols|Mongolian]], [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]], [[Miao people|Miao]], and [[Hmong people|Hmong]] descent.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Several preserved samples of human hair have been obtained from an [[Iron Age]] cemetery in [[Khakassia]], [[South Siberia]]. Many of the hair samples appear red in color, and one skull from the cemetery had a preserved red [[moustache]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shishlina |first1=N. |last2=Pankova |first2=S. |last3=Sevastyanov |first3=V. |last4=Kuznetsova |first4=O. |last5=Demidenko |first5=Yu. |title=Pastoralists and mobility in the Oglakhty cemetery of southern Siberia: new evidence from stable isotopes |journal=Antiquity |date=June 2016 |volume=90 |issue=351 |pages=679–694 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2016.92 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[File:Mustafa Amini-Olyroos.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Mustafa Amini]], Australian footballer of Afghan and Nicaraguan descent]]
Ancient human remains described as having red or [[auburn hair]] have been discovered in various parts of Asia, including the [[Tarim mummies]] of [[Xinjiang]], China.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Woog |first1=Adam |title=Mummies |date=2009 |publisher=Capstone}}</ref>  In Chinese sources, ancient [[Kyrgyz people]] were described as fair-skinned, green- or blue-eyed and red-haired people with a mixture of European and East Asian features.<ref name="lung">{{cite book |author=Rachel Lung |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsNoHtgkGPkC&pg=PA108 |title=Interpreters in Early Imperial China |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |year=2011 |isbn=978-90-272-2444-6 |page=108 |access-date=15 June 2012}}</ref> In the [[Book of Wei]], Chinese author [[Wei Shou]] notes that [[Liu Yuan (Han Zhao)|Liu Yuan]] was over {{Convert|6|ft|m}} tall and had red strands of hair in his long beard.<ref>Helfen-Maenchen, Otto, The World of the Huns: Studies of Their History and Culture, p.373. University of California Press {{ISBN|978-0-520-01596-8}}</ref> The ethnic [[Miao people]] of China are recorded with red hair. According to F.M Savina of the Paris Foreign Missionary Society, the appearance of the Miao was "pale yellow in complexion, almost white, their hair is often light or dark brown, sometimes even red or corn-silk blond, and a few even have pale blue eyes".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hattaway |first1=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05xjDwAAQBAJ&q=F.M+savina+yellow&pg=PT28 |title=Guizhou: The Precious Province |date=2018 |publisher=[[Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge]](SPCK) |isbn=978-0-281-07989-6 |location=[[London]] |language=en}} In appearance the Miao are pale yellow in complexion, almost white, their hair is often light or dark brown, sometimes even red or corn-silk blond, and a few even have pale blue eyes”- F.M, Savina</ref> A phenotype study of [[Hmong people]] show they are sometimes born with red hair.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Chao Romero |first1=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RmW4DwAAQBAJ&q=Hmong+red+hair&pg=PA84 |title=Mixed Race Student Politics: A Rising "Third Wave" Movement at UCLA |last2=Ong |first2=James |last3=Guillermo-Wann |first3=Chelsea |last4=Logia |first4=Jenifer |date=October 3, 2019 |publisher=[[UCLA Asian American Studies Center]] |isbn=978-0934052528 |location=[[Los Angeles, CA]] |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Kipchaks|Kipchak]] people were a [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] ethnic group from Central Asia who served in the [[Golden Horde]] military forces after being conquered by the Mongols. In the Chinese historical document ''Kang mu'', the Kipchak people are described as red haired and blue-eyed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bretschneider |first1=Emil |title=Medieval Researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources |date=2000 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=0415244862 |page=72 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lnCLnrzUJCsC&pg=PA72}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Halperin |first1=Charles J. |title=The Kipchak connection: the Ilkhans, the Mamluks and Ayn Jalut |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |date=January 2000 |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=229–245 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00007205 }}</ref>

====Americas, Oceania and Sub-Saharan Africa====
[[File:Lae.jpg|thumb|Two women with mixed reddish-brown hair, [[Papua New Guinea]]. [[Melanesians]] have a significant incidence of mixed-fair hair, caused by a genetic mutation different from European [[blond]] and red hair.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kenny |first1=Eimear E. |last2=Timpson |first2=Nicholas J. |last3=Sikora |first3=Martin |last4=Yee |first4=Muh-Ching |last5=Moreno-Estrada |first5=Andrés |last6=Eng |first6=Celeste |last7=Huntsman |first7=Scott |last8=Burchard |first8=Esteban González |last9=Stoneking |first9=Mark |last10=Bustamante |first10=Carlos D. |last11=Myles |first11=Sean |title=Melanesian Blond Hair Is Caused by an Amino Acid Change in TYRP1 |journal=Science |date=4 May 2012 |volume=336 |issue=6081 |pages=554 |doi=10.1126/science.1217849 |pmid=22556244 |pmc=3481182 |bibcode=2012Sci...336..554K }}</ref>]]
Reddish-brown ([[auburn hair|auburn]]) hair is also found among some [[Polynesians]], and is especially common in some tribes and family groups. In Polynesian culture, reddish hair has traditionally been seen as a sign of descent from high-ranking ancestors and a mark of rulership.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hiroa |first1=Te Rangi |last2=Buck |first2=P. H. |title=Maori Somatology. Racial Averages |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |date=1922 |volume=31 |issue=1(121) |pages=37–44 |jstor=20701857 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.31826/9781463233983-017 |chapter=Enigma of the Ngari Horu |title=Antrocom: Journal of Anthropology |date=2010 |last1=Bolton |first1=Kerry R. |pages=123–126 |isbn=978-1-4632-3398-3 }}</ref> Emigration from Europe has increased the population of red haired humans in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and [[South Africa]].

===Historical===
Several accounts by Greek writers mention redheaded people. A fragment by the poet [[Xenophanes]] describes the [[Thracians]] as blue-eyed and red-haired.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lesher |first1=James H. |title=Xenophanes of Colophon: Fragments : a Text and Translation with a Commentary |date=2001 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-8508-5 |page=90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LxxJXTviacgC&dq=Xenophanes+thracians&pg=PA90 |quote=Men make gods in their own image; those of the Ethiopians are black and snub-nosed, those of the Thracians have blue eyes and red hair. }}</ref> The ancient [[Budini]] and [[Sarmatians]] are also reported by some classical Greek authors to be blue-eyed and red-haired.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ridgeway|first1=William|title=The Early Age of Greece, Volume 1|date=2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-43458-5|page=401|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pIdxBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA401}}</ref><ref name="Supplement">{{cite book|last1=Baumgarten|first1=Siegmund Jakob|last2=Beer|first2=Ferdinand Wilhelm|last3=Semler|first3=Johann Salomo|title=A Supplement to the English Universal History: Lately Published in London: Containing ... Remarks and Annotations on the Universal History, Designed as an Improvement and Illustration of that Work ...|date=1760|publisher=E. Dilly|page=30|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2UUQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA30|language=en}}</ref> It was once believed that Sarmatians owed their name to their red hair,<ref name="Supplement" /> but this claim was later debunked.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Тохтасьев |first1=С. Р. |title=Sauromatae – Sarmatae – Syrmatae |language=uk |journal=Херсонесский сборник |date=2005 |issue=14 |pages=291–306 |id={{CORE output|343476730}} |url=https://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/bitstream/handle/123456789/172942/28-Tokhtasiev.pdf }}</ref>

In Asia, red or auburn hair has been found among the ancient [[Tocharians]], who occupied the [[Tarim Basin]] in what is now the northwesternmost province of China. [[Tarim mummies]] have been found with red hair dating to the [[2nd millennium BC]].<ref>{{cite episode | title = Mysterious Mummies of China | episode-link = List of NOVA episodes#Season 25: 1997.E2.80.931998 | url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2502chinamum.html | series = NOVA | series-link = Nova (American TV series) | airdate = 20 January 1998 | season = 25}}</ref>

In certain Biblical accounts, [[Hebrews|Hebrew]] and [[Israelites|Israelite]] individuals were described as having ruddy hair. For example, [[Esau]] and [[David]] (Gen. 25:25; 1 Sam. 16:12, 17:42.), are described as "''admoni''", meaning red or ruddy.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=7 April 2015 |title=Ginger Jews |website=Judaism and Science |publisher=<!--Not stated--> |url=https://www.judaismandscience.com/ginger-jews/ |access-date=22 June 2022 |quote=}}</ref>

==Biochemistry and genetics==
The pigment [[pheomelanin]] gives red hair its distinctive color. Red hair has far more of the pigment pheomelanin than it has of the dark pigment eumelanin.

The [[genetics]] of red hair appear to be associated with the [[melanocortin-1 receptor]] (MC1R), which is found on [[chromosome 16]]. In 1995, Valverde, et al. identified [[allele]]s on MC1R associated with red hair. The number of alleles linked to red hair has since been expanded by other authors, and these variants are now identified as the RHC (''red hair colour'') alleles. Eighty percent of redheads have an MC1R gene variant within the RHC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bader |first1=Scott |title=A Guide to Forensic DNA Profiling |date=21 March 2016 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-75152-7 |page=393 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f-hRCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA393-IA90 |language=en}} "Valverde ''et al'' [27] was the first to identify MC1R associations ''pheomelanogenic'' red hair color (RHC), and subsequently, several other authors have extended these results to identify what are today called the RHC phenotype alleles (all SNPs, Box, ''et al.'' [28, 32]; Duffy ''et al.'' [29]; Smith ''et al.'' [30]: Parmer ''et al.'' [31]; Bastiaens ''et al.'' [33, 34];  Kennedy ''et al.'' [35]; Flannagan ''et al'' [39], and reviewed by Sturm, [37])."</ref><ref name=valverde>{{cite journal |vauthors=Valverde P, Healy E, Jackson I, Rees JL, Thody AJ |title=Variants of the melanocyte-stimulating hormone receptor gene are associated with red hair and fair skin in humans |journal=Nature Genetics |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=328–30 |year=1995 |pmid=7581459 |doi=10.1038/ng1195-328 }}</ref> Red hair is also associated with fair skin color because the MC1R mutation also results in low concentrations of eumelanin throughout the body. The lower melanin concentration in skin confers the advantage that a sufficient concentration of important [[vitamin D]] can be produced under low light conditions. However, when UV-radiation is strong (as in regions close to the equator) the lower concentration of melanin leads to several medical disadvantages, such as a higher risk of skin cancer. The MC1R variant gene that gives people red hair generally results in skin that is difficult or impossible to [[Sun tanning|tan]]. Because of the natural tanning reaction to the sun's ultraviolet light and high amounts of pheomelanin in the skin, [[freckle]]s are a common, but not universal, feature of red-haired people.{{fact|date=May 2025}}

Red hair can originate from several changes on the MC1R-gene. If one of these changes is present on both chromosomes, then the respective individual is likely to have red hair. This type of inheritance is described as an autosomal [[recessive gene|recessive]]. Even if both parents do not have red hair themselves, both can be [[Genetic carrier|carrier]]s for the gene and have a redheaded child.{{fact|date=May 2025}}

Genetic studies of [[dizygotic]] (fraternal) twins indicate that the MC1R gene is not solely responsible for the red hair phenotype; unidentified modifier genes exist, making variance in the MC1R gene necessary, but not sufficient, for red hair production.<ref name="boxwyeth">{{cite journal |last1=Box |first1=N. F. |last2=Wyeth |first2=J. R. |last3=O'Gorman |first3=L. E. |last4=Martin |first4=N. G. |last5=Sturm |first5=R. A. |title=Characterization of Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone Receptor Variant Alleles in Twins with Red Hair |journal=Human Molecular Genetics |date=October 1997 |volume=6 |issue=11 |pages=1891–1897 |doi=10.1093/hmg/6.11.1891 |pmid=9302268 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Genetics===
The alleles Arg151Cys, Arg160Trp, [[Asp294His]], and Arg142His on [[MC1R]] are shown to be recessives for the red hair phenotype.<ref name="harding">{{cite journal |last1=Harding |first1=Rosalind M. |last2=Healy |first2=Eugene |last3=Ray |first3=Amanda J. |last4=Ellis |first4=Nichola S. |last5=Flanagan |first5=Niamh |last6=Todd |first6=Carol |last7=Dixon |first7=Craig |last8=Sajantila |first8=Antti |last9=Jackson |first9=Ian J. |last10=Birch-Machin |first10=Mark A. |last11=Rees |first11=Jonathan L. |title=Evidence for Variable Selective Pressures at MC1R |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |date=April 2000 |volume=66 |issue=4 |pages=1351–1361 |doi=10.1086/302863 |pmid=10733465 |pmc=1288200 }}</ref> The gene ''HCL2'' on [[chromosome 4]] may also be related to red hair.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/4842|title=HGNC Symbol Report:HCL2|website=Gene.ucl.ac.uk |access-date=19 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Eiberg |first1=Hans |last2=Mohr |first2=Jan |title=Major locus for red hair color linked to MNS blood groups on chromosome 4 |journal=Clinical Genetics |date=August 1987 |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=125–128 |doi=10.1111/j.1399-0004.1987.tb03339.x |pmid=3477350 }}</ref> There are at least 8 genetic differences associated with red hair color.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Hair color gene study sheds new light on roots of redheads' locks |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181210101930.htm |work=ScienceDaily |publisher=University of Edinburgh |date=10 December 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morgan |first1=Michael D. |last2=Pairo-Castineira |first2=Erola |last3=Rawlik |first3=Konrad |last4=Canela-Xandri |first4=Oriol |last5=Rees |first5=Jonathan |last6=Sims |first6=David |last7=Tenesa |first7=Albert |last8=Jackson |first8=Ian J. |title=Genome-wide study of hair colour in UK Biobank explains most of the SNP heritability |journal=Nature Communications |date=10 December 2018 |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=5271 |doi=10.1038/s41467-018-07691-z |pmid=30531825 |pmc=6288091 |bibcode=2018NatCo...9.5271M }}</ref>

In species other than primates, red hair has different genetic origins and mechanisms.{{fact|date=May 2025}}

===Beards===
The genes responsible for red hair can express themselves to different extents in different people. One consequence of this is that a number of people
{{quantify|date=March 2024}} have both dark hair and red beards. This may reflect the presence of a single copy of the MC1R gene, leading to differential expression in the beard versus the scalp hair. However, some red-bearded people lack MC1R genes.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Plackett |first1=Benjamin |title=Why do some men have red beards, but not red hair? |url=https://www.livescience.com/why-men-red-beards.html |work=Live Science |date=14 March 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Flanagan |first1=Niamh |last2=Healy |first2=Eugene |last3=Ray |first3=Amanda |last4=Philips |first4=Sion |last5=Todd |first5=Carole |last6=Jackson |first6=Ian J. |last7=Birch-Machin |first7=Mark A. |last8=Rees |first8=Jonathan L. |title=Pleiotropic effects of the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene on human pigmentation |journal=Human Molecular Genetics |date=12 October 2000 |volume=9 |issue=17 |pages=2531–2537 |doi=10.1093/hmg/9.17.2531|pmid=11030758 |doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11820/ed3cb955-ec0f-4b4a-844e-cd806ca785ce |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

===Evolution===
====Origins====
Red hair is the rarest natural hair color in humans. The non-tanning skin associated with red hair may have been advantageous in far-northern climates where sunlight is scarce. Studies by [[Walter Bodmer|Bodmer]] and [[Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza|Cavalli-Sforza]] (1976) hypothesized that lighter skin pigmentation prevents [[rickets]] in colder climates by encouraging higher levels of [[vitamin D]] production and also allows the individual to retain heat better than someone with darker skin.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bodmer |first1=W. F. |title=Genetics, evolution, and man |last2=Cavalli-Sforza |first2=L. L |date=1976 |publisher=W.H. Freeman |isbn=978-0-7167-0573-4 |location=San Francisco |language=English |oclc=1849056 }}{{pn|date=May 2025}}</ref> In 2000, Harding ''et al.'' concluded that red hair is not the result of positive selection but of a lack of negative selection. In Africa, for example, red hair is selected against because high levels of sun harm pale skin. However, in Northern Europe this does not happen, so redheads can become more common through [[genetic drift]].<ref name="harding" />

Estimates on the original occurrence of the currently active gene for red hair vary from 20,000 to 100,000 years ago.<ref name="nicole">{{cite web |url=http://www.arts.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=/connected/2002/10/04/ecfhair04.xml&sSheet=/connected/2002/10/04/ixconn.html |title=Nicole's hair secrets |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=2 October 2002 |archive-date=2 February 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202155643/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fconnected%2F2002%2F10%2F04%2Fecfhair04.xml&sSheet=%2Fconnected%2F2002%2F10%2F04%2Fixconn.html |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ox.ac.uk">{{cite journal |title=Red hair genes 100,000 years old |journal=Oxford Blueprint |volume=1 |issue=11 |date=31 May 2001 |url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/blueprint/2000-01/3105/11.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 July 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010709074454/http://www.ox.ac.uk/blueprint/2000-01/3105/11.shtml}}</ref>

A DNA study of [[Neanderthal]] genomes determined that the MC1R gene resulting in red hair in modern humans was not present in Neanderthal, and "if variants contributing to red hair were present in Neanderthals, they were probably not at high frequency."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dannemann |first1=Michael |last2=Kelso |first2=Janet |title=The Contribution of Neanderthals to Phenotypic Variation in Modern Humans |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |date=October 2017 |volume=101 |issue=4 |pages=578–589 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.09.010 |pmid=28985494 |pmc=5630192 }}</ref>

====Extinction hoax====
{{anchor|Extinction}}
{{See also|Disappearing blonde gene}}
A 2007 report in ''[[The Courier-Mail]]'', which cited the ''[[National Geographic Magazine|National Geographic]]'' magazine and unnamed "geneticists", said that red hair is likely to die out in the near future.<ref>[http://www.news.com.au/national/gingers-extinct-in-100-years-say-scientists/story-e6frfkp9-1111114243424 Gingers extinct in 100 years] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327080306/http://www.news.com.au/national/gingers-extinct-in-100-years-say-scientists/story-e6frfkp9-1111114243424 |date=27 March 2014 }}. [[News Limited#Websites|News.com.au]]. Retrieved 28 June 2009.</ref> Other blogs and news sources ran similar stories that attributed the research to the magazine or the "Oxford Hair Foundation". However, a [[HowStuffWorks]] article says that the foundation was funded by [[Hair dye|hair-dye]] maker [[Procter & Gamble]], and that other experts had dismissed the research as either lacking in evidence or simply bogus. The ''National Geographic'' article in fact states, "while redheads may decline, the potential for red isn't going away".<ref name="howstuffworks">[https://science.howstuffworks.com/redhead-extinction.htm Redhead extinction]. [[HowStuffWorks]]. Retrieved 28 June 2009.</ref><!-- the NatGeo "citation" is letter-for-letter identical to that from HowStuffWorks ( http://science.howstuffworks.com/genetic-science/redhead-extinction2.htm ). Do not cite NatGeo unless it was actually read. See [[WP:SAYWHEREYOUGOTIT]]. -->

Red hair is caused by a relatively rare recessive [[allele]], the expression of which can skip generations. It is not likely to disappear at any time in the foreseeable future.<ref name="howstuffworks" />

==Medical implications of the red hair gene==
===Melanoma===
[[File:Redhead close up.jpg|thumb|A close-up view of straight red hair]]
[[Melanin]] in the skin aids UV tolerance through [[sun tanning]], but fair-skinned persons lack the levels of melanin needed to prevent [[indirect DNA damage|UV-induced DNA-damage]]. Studies have shown that red hair alleles in MC1R increase [[freckling]] and decrease tanning ability.<ref>{{cite journal  |vauthors=Flanagan N, Healy E, Ray A, etal |title=Pleiotropic effects of the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene on human pigmentation |journal=Hum. Mol. Genet. |volume=9 |issue=17 |pages=2531–7 | date=October 2000 |pmid=11030758 |doi=10.1093/hmg/9.17.2531|doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11820/ed3cb955-ec0f-4b4a-844e-cd806ca785ce |hdl-access=free }}</ref> It has been found that Europeans who are [[Zygosity|heterozygous]] for red hair exhibit increased sensitivity to UV radiation.<ref name="Rees2004">{{cite journal |author=Rees JL |title=The genetics of sun sensitivity in humans |journal=Am. J. Hum. Genet. |volume=75 |issue=5 |pages=739–51 | date=November 2004 |pmid=15372380 |pmc=1182105 |doi=10.1086/425285 }}</ref>

Red hair and its relationship to UV sensitivity are of interest to many [[melanoma]] researchers. Sunshine can both be good and bad for a person's health and the different alleles on MC1R represent these adaptations. It also has been shown that individuals with pale skin are highly susceptible to a variety of [[skin cancer]]s such as [[melanoma]], [[basal cell carcinoma]], and [[squamous cell carcinoma]].<ref name="Rees2002a">{{cite book |last1=Rees |first1=Jonathan L |chapter=Molecular phototypes |pages=333–339 |editor1-last=Ballotti |editor1-first=Robert |editor2-last=Ortonne |editor2-first=Jean-Paul |title=Mechanisms of Suntanning |date=2002 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-84184-189-2 }}</ref><ref name="Rees2002b">{{cite book |last1=Rees |first1=Jonathan L |chapter=Skin cancer (including nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome) |pages=529–548 |editor1-last=Kinzler |editor1-first=Kenneth W. |editor2-last=Vogelstein |editor2-first=Bert |title=The Genetic Basis of Human Cancer |date=2002 |publisher=McGraw Hill Professional |isbn=978-0-07-137050-9 |oclc=47756556 }}</ref>

===Pain tolerance and injury===
{{Anchor|Bleeding and bruising|Pain Tolerance}}
Two studies have demonstrated that people with red hair have different sensitivity to pain to people with other hair colors. One study found that women with red hair are slightly more sensitive to thermal pain (associated with naturally occurring low [[vitamin K]] levels) and that [[lidocaine]] was significantly less effective in reducing pain.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Liem EB, Joiner TV, Tsueda K, Sessler DI |title=Increased sensitivity to thermal pain and reduced subcutaneous lidocaine efficacy in redheads |journal=Anesthesiology |volume=102 |issue=3 |pages=509–14 |year=2005 |pmid=15731586|doi=10.1097/00000542-200503000-00006 |pmc=1692342}}</ref> Another study concluded that redheads are less sensitive to pain from multiple modalities, including [[noxious stimuli]] such as electrically induced pain.<ref>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|2226913644}} |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/magazine/11ideas_section3-22.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529180723/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/magazine/stoic-redheads.html |archive-date=29 May 2015 |title=Stoic Redheads |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=11 December 2005 |first=Amy |last=Sullivan |author-link=Amy Sullivan |access-date=22 May 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://healthland.time.com/2009/08/12/do-redheads-really-feel-more-pain-the-jurys-still-out/ |title=Do redheads really feel more pain? The jury's still out |work=Wellness Blog on TIME.com |date=12 August 2009 | access-date=22 May 2010}}</ref><ref name="mogil" />

Researchers have found that people with red hair require greater amounts of [[anesthetic]].<ref>{{cite journal  |vauthors=Liem EB, Lin CM, Suleman MI, etal |title=Anesthetic requirement is increased in redheads |journal=Anesthesiology |volume=101 |issue=2 |pages=279–83 | date=August 2004 |pmid=15277908 |pmc=1362956 |doi=10.1097/00000542-200408000-00006}}</ref> Another study showed women with gene variants associated with red hair had a greater [[analgesic]] response to the painkiller [[pentazocine]] than do either women of other hair colors or men of any hair color.<ref>{{cite journal  |vauthors=Mogil JS, Wilson SG, Chesler EJ, etal |title=The melanocortin-1 receptor gene mediates female-specific mechanisms of analgesia in mice and humans |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=100 |issue=8 |pages=4867–72 |date=April 2003 |pmid=12663858 |pmc=153647 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0730053100 |bibcode=2003PNAS..100.4867M |doi-access=free }}</ref> A follow-up study by the same group showed that men and women with red hair had a greater analgesic response to [[morphine-6-glucuronide]].<ref name="mogil">{{cite journal  |vauthors=Mogil JS, Ritchie J, Smith SB, etal |title=Melanocortin-1 receptor gene variants affect pain and mu-opioid analgesia in mice and humans |journal=Journal of Medical Genetics |volume=42 |issue=7 |pages=583–7 | date=July 2005 |pmid=15994880 |pmc=1736101 |doi=10.1136/jmg.2004.027698}}</ref> However, a later study of 468 healthy adult patients found no significant difference in recovery times, pain scores, or quality of recovery in those with red hair compared with dark hair in either men or women.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Myles |first1=P. S. |last2=Buchanan |first2=F. F. |last3=Bain |first3=C. R. |title=The Effect of Hair Colour on Anaesthetic Requirements and Recovery Time after Surgery |journal=Anaesthesia and Intensive Care |date=1 July 2012 |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=683–689 |doi=10.1177/0310057X1204000415 |pmid=22813497 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The unexpected relationship of hair color to pain tolerance appears to exist because redheads have a mutation in a hormone receptor that can apparently respond to at least two types of hormones: the pigmentation-driving [[melanocyte-stimulating hormone]] (MSH), and the pain-relieving [[endorphins]] (both derive from the same precursor molecule, [[POMC]], and are structurally similar). Specifically, redheads have a mutated [[melanocortin-1 receptor]] (MC1R) gene that produces an altered receptor for MSH.<ref name="Liem">{{cite journal |vauthors=Liem EB, Lin CM, Suleman MI, etal |title=Anesthetic requirement is increased in redheads |journal=Anesthesiology |volume=101 |issue=2 |pages=279–83 |year=2004 |pmid=15277908|doi=10.1097/00000542-200408000-00006 |pmc=1362956}}</ref> Melanocytes, the cells that produce pigment in skin and hair, use the MC1R to recognize and respond to MSH from the [[anterior pituitary]] gland. Melanocyte-stimulating hormones normally stimulates melanocytes to make black [[eumelanin]], but if the melanocytes have a mutated receptor, they will make reddish [[pheomelanin]] instead. MC1R also occurs in the brain, where it is one of a large set of POMC-related receptors that are apparently involved not only in responding to MSH, but also in responses to [[endorphins]] and possibly other POMC-derived hormones.<ref name="Liem" /> Though the details are not clearly understood, it appears that there is some [[crosstalk (biology)|crosstalk]] between the POMC hormones that may explain the link between red hair and pain tolerance.

There is little or no evidence to support the belief that people with red hair have a higher chance than people with other hair colors to [[hemorrhage]] or suffer other bleeding complications.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=Veena V. |last2=Kumar |first2=Naveen V. |last3=Isaacson |first3=Glenn |title=Superstition and Post-Tonsillectomy Hemorrhage |journal=The Laryngoscope |date=November 2004 |volume=114 |issue=11 |pages=2031–2033 |doi=10.1097/01.mlg.0000147942.82626.1c |pmid=15510037 }}</ref><ref name="bruising">{{cite journal |last1=Liem |first1=Edwin B. |last2=Hollensead |first2=Sandra C. |last3=Joiner |first3=Teresa V. |last4=Sessler |first4=Daniel I. |title=Women with Red Hair Report a Slightly Increased Rate of Bruising but Have Normal Coagulation Tests |journal=Anesthesia & Analgesia |date=January 2006 |volume=102 |issue=1 |pages=313–318 |doi=10.1213/01.ANE.0000180769.51576.CD |pmid=16368849 |pmc=1351323 }}</ref> One study, however, reports a link between red hair and a higher rate of [[bruising]].<ref name="bruising" />

==Red hair of pathological origin==
Most red hair is caused by the MC1R gene and is non-pathological. However, in rare cases red hair can be associated with disease or genetic disorders:
* In cases of severe [[malnutrition]], normally dark human hair may turn red or [[blond]]e. The condition, part of a syndrome known as [[kwashiorkor]], is a sign of critical starvation caused chiefly by [[protein]] deficiency, and is common during periods of [[famine]].
* One variety of [[albinism]] (Type 3, a.k.a. [[wikt:rufous|rufous]] albinism), sometimes seen in Africans and inhabitants of [[New Guinea]], results in red hair and red-colored skin.<ref name="pathguy">[http://www.pathguy.com/lectures/accdep.htm Pathology Guy: Accumulations and Deposits] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016153240/http://www.pathguy.com/lectures/accdep.htm |date=16 October 2006 }}{{self-published inline|date=May 2025}} Ed Friedlander, M.D., Pathologist. Last updated 24 September 2006</ref>
* Red hair is found on people lacking [[pro-opiomelanocortin]].<ref name="pathguy" /><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Challis BG, Pritchard LE, Creemers JW, etal |title=A missense mutation disrupting a dibasic prohormone processing site in pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) increases susceptibility to early-onset obesity through a novel molecular mechanism |journal=Hum. Mol. Genet. |volume=11 |issue=17 |pages=1997–2004 |date=August 2002 |pmid=12165561 |doi=10.1093/hmg/11.17.1997 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Krude |first1=Heiko |last2=Biebermann |first2=Heike |last3=GrüTers |first3=Annette |title=Mutations in the Human Proopiomelanocortin Gene |journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |date=June 2003 |volume=994 |issue=1 |pages=233–239 |doi=10.1111/j.1749-6632.2003.tb03185.x |pmid=12851321 |bibcode=2003NYASA.994..233K }}</ref>

There have also been rare reports of scalp or beard hair spontaneously turning partially red, with no identified pathological cause.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Prasad |first1=Vijeta |last2=Mohta |first2=Alpana |last3=Srinivasa |first3=Rekha |last4=Ghiya |first4=Bhikamchand |title=Heterochromia of beard hair - A rare case report |journal=Our Dermatology Online |date=2022 |volume=13 |issue=e |page=e14 |url=https://www.odermatol.com/odermatology/2022e/E393.Heterochromia-PrasadV.pdf}}</ref>

==Culture==
[[File:Posthumous painted portrait of Cleopatra VII of Egypt, from Herculaneum, Italy.jpg|thumb|upright|Most likely a posthumous painted portrait of [[Cleopatra VII]] of [[Ptolemaic Egypt]] with red hair and her distinct facial features, wearing a royal [[diadem]] and pearl-studded hairpins, from Roman [[Herculaneum]], mid-1st century AD<ref>{{citation|last1=Walker|first1=Susan|last2=Higgs|first2=Peter|editor-surname1=Walker|editor-given1=Susan|editor-surname2=Higgs|editor-given2=Peter |title=Cleopatra of Egypt: from History to Myth |location=Princeton, N.J.|chapter=Painting with a portrait of a woman in profile |publisher=Princeton University Press (British Museum Press) |year=2001 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cleopatraofegypt0000unse/page/314 314–315] |isbn=978-0-691-08835-8 |postscript=. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/cleopatraofegypt0000unse|url=https://archive.org/details/cleopatraofegypt0000unse/page/314}}</ref><ref>Fletcher, Joann (2008). ''Cleopatra the Great: The Woman Behind the Legend''. New York: Harper. {{ISBN|978-0-06-058558-7}}, image plates and captions between pp. 246-247.</ref>]][[File:Istanbul - Museo archeol. - Tyche e Plutone - sec. II d.C. - Foto G. Dall'Orto 28-5-2006 2.jpg|thumb|Polychrome [[Roman sculpture|Roman marble statue]] depicting the goddess [[Tyche]] holding the infant [[Plutus]] in her arms, 2nd century, [[Istanbul Archaeological Museum]]]]
In various times and cultures, red hair has been prized, feared, and ridiculed.
[[File:Alessandro Botticelli Portrait of a Lady (Smeralda Brandini) detail.jpg|thumb|upright|''Portrait of a Lady'', {{circa}} 1470–1475, by [[Sandro Botticelli]]]]
[[File:Elizabeth I (Armada Portrait).jpg|thumb|[[Elizabeth I of England]], {{circa}} 1588]]

=== Media, fashion and art ===
[[File:Accolade by Edmund Blair Leighton.jpg|thumb|upright|''The Accolade'', 1901, by [[Edmund Blair Leighton]]]]

[[Queen Elizabeth I of England]] was a redhead, and during the [[Elizabethan era]] in England, red hair was fashionable for women. In modern times, red hair is subject to fashion trends; celebrities such as [[Nicole Kidman]], [[Alyson Hannigan]], [[Marcia Cross]], [[Christina Hendricks]], [[Emma Stone]] and [[Geri Halliwell]] can boost sales of red hair dye.{{Citation needed|date=July 2012}}

Sometimes, red hair darkens as people get older, becoming a more brownish color or losing some of its vividness. This leads some to associate red hair with youthfulness, a quality that is generally considered desirable. In several countries such as India, Iran, Bangladesh and Pakistan, [[henna]] and [[saffron]] are used on hair to give it a bright red appearance.<ref>[http://www.plantcultures.org.uk/plants/henna_history.html Henna – history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123124857/http://www.plantcultures.org.uk/plants/henna_history.html |date=23 November 2008 }} Plant Cultures: Exploring plants and people. 18 November 2004</ref>

Many painters have exhibited a fascination with red hair. The hair color "[[Titian hair|Titian]]" takes its name from the artist [[Titian]], who often painted women with red hair. Early Renaissance artist [[Sandro Botticelli]]'s famous painting ''[[The Birth of Venus (Botticelli)|The Birth of Venus]]'' depicts the mythological goddess [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] as a redhead. Other painters notable for their redheads include the [[Pre-Raphaelites]], [[Edmund Leighton]], [[Amedeo Modigliani|Modigliani]],<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/modigliani/modigliani.redhead-dress.jpg | title = Image Young Redhead in an Evening Dress | access-date = 11 May 2011 | publisher = [[WebMuseum]]}}</ref> and [[Gustav Klimt]].<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/klimt/klimt.danae.jpg | title = Danae | access-date = 11 May 2011 | publisher = [[WebMuseum]]}}</ref>

[[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s [[Sherlock Holmes]] story "[[The Red-Headed League]]" (1891) involves a man who is asked to become a member of a mysterious group of red-headed people. The 1943 film ''[[DuBarry Was a Lady (film)|DuBarry Was a Lady]]'' featured red-heads [[Lucille Ball]] and [[Red Skelton]] in [[Technicolor]].

Notable comic book characters with red hair include [[Jean Grey]], [[Red Sonja]], [[Mystique (character)|Mystique]], and [[Poison Ivy (character)|Poison Ivy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2014/02/25/one-gingers-top-ten-list-of-kick-ass-red-headed-superheroes-and-villains/|title=One Ginger's Top Ten List of Red Headed Superheroes (and Villains) - Women Write About Comics|date=25 February 2014|website=womenwriteaboutcomics.com}}</ref>

A book of photographs of red haired people was published in 2020, ''Gingers'' by Kieran Dodds (2020).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-54929694|title = In pictures: Connecting the world's redheads|work = BBC News|date = 15 November 2020}}</ref><!-- ''Ginger Snaps'' by Charlotte Rushton DeNunzio was scheduled for 2007,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6725653.stm|title=Is Gingerism as bad as Racism?|date=6 June 2007|website=BBC News|first=Finlo|last= Rohrer}}</ref> and seems to be scheduled for Winter 2020. ref needed-->

=== Red hair festivals ===
[[File:Redheadday3.jpg|thumb|Hundreds of redheads together at the [[Redhead Day]], September 2007]]

There has been an annual [[Redhead Day]] festival in the Netherlands that attracts red-haired participants from around the world. The festival was held in [[Breda]], a city in the south east of the Netherlands, prior to 2019, when it moved to [[Tilburg]].<ref>{{Cite web|last = Spencer |first = Clare |title = People get red-dy |work = BBC News Magazine |publisher = BBC |date = 9 September 2009 |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8245290.stm|access-date = 10 September 2009}}</ref> It attracts participants from over 80 countries. The international event began in 2005, when Dutch painter Bart Rouwenhorst decided he wanted to paint 15 redheads.

The Irish Redhead Convention, held in late August in [[County Cork]] since 2011, claims to be a global celebration and attracts people from several continents. The celebrations include crowning the ginger King and Queen, competitions for the best red eyebrows and most freckles per square inch, orchestral concerts and carrot throwing competitions.<ref>{{cite news |last = Curtis |first = Dan |title = The Irish Redhead Convention takes place in County Cork |work = BBC News |date = 25 August 2014 |url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/magazine-28794036 | access-date = 4 September 2014}}</ref>

A smaller red-hair day festival is held since 2013 by the UK's [[Anti-Bullying Week|Anti-Bullying Alliance]] in London, with the aim of instilling pride in having red-hair.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ginger-pride-festival-take-place-5973027 |title=Ginger Pride festival will be held in 2016 to celebrate redheads |first=Zahra |last=Mulroy |date=2 July 2015 |website=Mirror.co.uk |access-date=19 August 2017}}</ref>

Since 2014, a red-hair event is held in Israel, at [[Gezer (kibbutz)|Kibbutz Gezer (Carrot)]], for the local Israeli red hair community,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/08/israel-redhead-convention-ginger-children-kibbutz.html|title=Israel holds first conference for 'gingers'|date=29 August 2014|website=Al-monitor.com |access-date=19 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819232409/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/08/israel-redhead-convention-ginger-children-kibbutz.html|archive-date=19 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> including both Ashkenazi and [[Mizrahi Jews|Mizrahi]] red-heads.<ref>[http://mekomit.co.il/%D7%9B%D7%A0%D7%A1-%D7%94%D7%92%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%92%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%91%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%91%D7%95%D7%A5-%D7%92%D7%96%D7%A8 Fifty shades of orange: A conference on Kibbutz Gezer redheads] By Hagai Matar, Mekomit.co.il, 28 August 2014.</ref> However, the number of attendees has to be restricted due to the risk of rocket attacks, leading to anger in the red-hair community.<ref name="haaretz.com">[https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.613111 Finally, a Red Alert This Summer That (Most) Israelis Welcomed] Roy Arad, Haaretz.com, 30 August 2014.</ref> The organizers state; "The event is a good thing for many redheads, who had been embarrassed about being redheads before."<ref name="haaretz.com"/>

The first and only festival for red heads in the United States was launched in 2015. Held in [[Highwood, Illinois]], Redhead Days draws participants from across the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chicagoist.com/2016/06/05/rain_cant_dampen_second_annual_redh.php#photo-1|title=Photos: We Visited The Only Festival For Redheads In The U.S. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025204922/http://chicagoist.com/2016/06/05/rain_cant_dampen_second_annual_redh.php|archive-date=25 October 2016 |author=Mlinaric, Jessica |publisher=[[Chicagoist]]}}</ref>

A festival to celebrate the red-haired people is held annually in [[Izhevsk]] (Russia), the capital of [[Udmurtia]], since 2004.<ref>{{cite web|website=izh.ru|url=http://www.izh.ru/i/info/21088.html|language=ru|title=Рыжий фестиваль|date=2017|publisher=Izhevsk city portal|access-date=22 August 2018|archive-date=6 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106125815/http://www.izh.ru/i/info/21088.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

MC1R Magazine is a publication for red-haired people worldwide, based in [[Hamburg]], Germany.<ref>{{cite web|title=MC1R Magazine|website=mc1r-magazine.com|url=https://mc1r-magazine.com/}}</ref>

=== Religious and mythological traditions ===
[[File:Mariya Magdalena.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Mary Magdalene]] is commonly portrayed with long red hair, as in [[Mary Magdalene (Sandys)|this 1859 painting]] by [[Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys]].]]
In [[ancient Egypt]], red hair was associated with the deity [[Set (deity)|Set]], as well as [[Ramesses II]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brier |first1=Bob |title=Egyptian Mummies: Unraveling the Secrets of an Ancient Art |date=1994 |publisher=W. Morrow |isbn=978-0-688-10272-2 |pages=200–201 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Tyldesley |first=Joyce |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hzbRBN6Ugr0C&q=%22red+hair%22 |title=Ramesses: Egypt's Greatest Pharaoh |date=2001-04-26 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-0-14-194978-9 |language=en}}</ref>

In the ''[[Iliad]]'', [[Achilles]]' hair is described as {{Transliteration|grc|xanthēs}} ({{lang|grc|[[wikt:ξανθός|ξανθῆς]]}}<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0133:book=1 | title = Homer, Iliad, Book 1 | access-date = 2 May 2011 | work = Perseus Digital Library | publisher = [[Tufts University]]}}</ref>), usually translated as blonde, or golden<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Homer | author-link = Homer | title = The Iliad | others = Trans. Ian Johnston, Ian C. Johnston |publisher = Penguin | year = 1999 | page = 210 | isbn = 978-0-9776269-0-8 | quote = As he argued in his mind and heart, he slid his huge sword part way from its sheath. At that moment, Athena came down from heaven. White-armed Hera sent her. She cherished both men, cared for them equally. Athena stood behind Achilles, grabbed him by his golden hair, invisible to all except Achilles.}}</ref> but sometimes as red or tawny.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Homer | author-link = Homer | title = The Iliad: the story of Achillês | others = Trans. William Henry Denham Rouse |publisher = Penguin | year = 1999 | pages = 14–15 | isbn = 978-0-451-52737-0 | quote = As these thoughts went through his mind, and he began to draw the great sword from the sheath, Athena came down from heaven: Queen Hera sent her, loving and anxious at once. She stood behind him and held him back by his long red hair. No other man saw her but Achilles alone.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1 = Homer | author-link = Homer | others = Trans. Augustus Taber Murray, William F. Wyatt | title = Iliad: Books 1–12 | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 1999 | page = 27 | isbn = 978-0-674-99579-6}}</ref> His son [[Neoptolemus]] also bears the name Pyrrhus, a possible reference to his own red hair.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Grant | first1 = Michael | last2 = Hazel | first2 = John | title = Who's who in classical mythology | publisher = Psychology Press | year = 2002 | page = 359 | isbn = 978-0-415-26041-1 | quote = The child subsequently born to her was called Pyrrhus ('red-haired'), either because he had red hair or because the disguised Achilles had been known at Lycomedes' court as Pyrrha.}}</ref>

The [[Norse mythology|Norse god]] [[Thor]] is usually described as having red hair.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Lacy | first1 = Terry G. | title = Ring of Seasons: Iceland—Its Culture and History | publisher = University of Michigan Press | year = 2000 | page = 85 | isbn = 978-0-472-08661-0 | quote = He had a mass of red hair and a red beard and, when roused, a fearsome voice and a penetrating gaze under beetling red eyebrows.}}</ref>

The Hebrew word usually translated "ruddy" or "reddish-brown" (''admoni'' {{lang|he|אדמוני}}, from the root ''ADM'' {{lang|he|אדם}}, see also [[Adam]] and [[Edom]])<ref>{{cite web|title=Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible|url=http://www.abibleconcordance.com/40H-0700.htm|website=Abibleconcordance.com|access-date=19 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Biblos Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible|url=http://biblesuite.com/hebrew/119.htm|website=Biblesuite.com|access-date=19 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Biblos Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible|url=http://biblesuite.com/hebrew/132.htm|website=Biblesuite.com|access-date=19 August 2017}}</ref> was used to describe both [[Esau]] and [[David]].

[[Judas Iscariot]] is also represented with red hair in [[Spanish culture]]<ref name="Eclectic">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WX3QAAAAMAAJ |chapter=Red Hair |date= July 1851 |title=The eclectic magazine of foreign literature, science, and art |volume=2|publisher=Leavitt, Trow, & Co. |pages=315–317}}</ref><ref name="Blanco">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/lettersfromspai00whigoog|page= [https://archive.org/details/lettersfromspai00whigoog/page/n273 256]|title=Letters from Spain |first=Joseph Blanco |last=White |publisher=H. Colburn |year=1825}}</ref> and in the works of [[William Shakespeare]],<ref name="Glossary">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EWcPAAAAYAAJ |page= 473|title=A glossary: or, Collection of words, phrases, names, and allusions to customs, proverbs, etc., which have been thought to require illustration, in the words of English authors, particularly Shakespeare, and his contemporaries |volume= 1|first1= Robert |last1= Nares|first2=James Orchard |last2=Halliwell-Phillipps |last3=Wright |publisher=J.R. Smith |year=1859 |first3=Thomas}}</ref> reinforcing the negative stereotype.

=== The name "Rory" ===

The mainly masculine given name ''Rory'' – a name of [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic]] origin, which is an anglicisation of the {{langx|ga|'''Ruairí'''}}/'''''Ruaidhrí/Ruaidhrígh/Raidhrígh''''', {{langx|gd|'''Ruairidh'''}} and [[Manx language|Manx]]: '''''Rauree'''''<ref>{{cite book |last=Martin-Doyle |first=Katie |title=Treasury of Baby Names |year=1999 |publisher=Worth Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-1-903025-11-6 |page=220 |quote=Anglicised form of the Irish Gaelic names Ruaidhri, Ruari, and the Scottish Gaelic Ruairidh and Ruaraidh}}</ref> which is common to the [[Irish people|Irish]], [[Scottish people|Highland Scots]] and their diasporas<ref name="a-first2">{{cite book |url=http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx? |title=Learn about the family history of your surname |isbn=0-19-280050-7 |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |last2=Hodges |first2=Flavia |year=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=8 June 2020 |archive-date=26 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426121517/http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx |url-status=dead }} for the given name "Rory".</ref> – means "red-haired king", from ''ruadh'' ("red-haired" or "rusty") and ''rígh'' ("king"). However, present bearers of the name are by no means all red-haired themselves.

== Prejudice and discrimination against redheads ==
{{main|Discrimination against people with red hair}}

===Beliefs concerning temperament===
A common belief about redheads is that they have fiery tempers and sharp tongues. In ''[[Anne of Green Gables]]'', a character says of [[Anne Shirley]], the redheaded heroine, that "her temper matches her hair", while in ''[[The Catcher in the Rye]]'', [[Holden Caulfield]] remarks that "People with red hair are supposed to get mad very easily, but Allie [his dead brother] never did, and he had very red hair."

During the early stages of modern medicine, red hair was thought to be a sign of a [[wiktionary:sanguine#Adjective|sanguine]] [[Four temperaments|temperament]].<ref>[https://www.mcmillinmedia.com/eamt/files/brown2/brown7.html The Practical Magnetic Healer] G. M. Brown 1899</ref> In the Indian medicinal practice of [[Ayurveda]], redheads are seen as most likely to have a [[Humours (Ayurveda)|Pitta]] temperament.

Another belief is that redheads are highly sexed; for example, [[Jonathan Swift]] satirizes redhead stereotypes in part four of ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'', "A Voyage to the Country of the [[Houyhnhnm]]s," when he writes that: "It is observed that the red-haired of both sexes are more libidinous and mischievous than the rest, whom yet they much exceed in strength and activity." Swift goes on to write that "neither was the hair of this brute [a [[Yahoo (literature)|Yahoo]]] of a red colour (which might have been some excuse for an appetite a little irregular) but black as a sloe".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/829|title=Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World|first=Jonathan|last=Swift|date=1 February 1997|access-date=19 August 2017|publisher=Project Gutenberg}}</ref> Such beliefs were given a veneer of scientific credibility in the 19th century by [[Cesare Lombroso]] and [[Guglielmo Ferrero]]. They concluded that red hair was associated with crimes of lust, and claimed that 48% of "criminal women" were redheads.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lombroso |first1=Cesare |last2=Ferrero |first2=Guglielmo |title=Criminal Woman, the Prostitute, and the Normal Woman |date=2004 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-8559-2 |pages=123–124 }}</ref>

==== Medieval beliefs ====
[[Theophilus Presbyter]] describes how the blood of a red-haired young man is necessary to create [[gold]] from [[copper]], in a mixture with the ashes of a [[basilisk]].<ref>Palo Galloni, ''Il sacro artefice'', Laterza, Bari 1998 (Italian book, chapter 2 about the recipe of Theophilus ''De auro hyspanico'').</ref>

According to [[Montague Summers]], red hair and green eyes were thought to be the sign of a [[witch]], [[werewolf]] or [[vampire]] during the Middle Ages:

{{blockquote|Those whose hair is red, of a certain peculiar shade, are unmistakably vampires. It is significant that in ancient Egypt, as [[Manetho]] tells us, human sacrifices were offered at the grave of Osiris, and the victims were red-haired men who were burned, their ashes being scattered far and wide by winnowing-fans. It is held by some authorities that this was done to fertilize the fields and produce a bounteous harvest, red-hair symbolizing the golden wealth of the corn. But these men were called Typhonians, and were representatives not of Osiris but of his evil rival [[Typhon]], whose hair was red.}}

==== Medieval antisemitism ====

During the [[Spanish Inquisition]], people of red hair were identified as Jewish and isolated for persecution.<ref name="European Imagination 2010"/> In medieval Italy and Spain, red hair was associated with the heretical nature of Jews and their rejection of [[Jesus]], and thus [[Judas Iscariot]] was commonly depicted as red-haired in Italian and Spanish art.<ref name="Judas 1982"/> Writers from Shakespeare to Dickens would identify Jewish characters by giving them red hair, such as the villainous Jewish characters [[Shylock]] and [[Fagin]].<!-- Unless there are examples of non-villainous Jewish characters in Dickens or Shakespeare, this should probably be tweaked further. --><ref name="Mediterranean 2004 page 40">{{cite book |title=Shakespeare and the Mediterranean: The Selected Proceedings of the International Shakespeare Association World Congress, Valencia, 2001 |date=2004 |publisher=University of Delaware Press |isbn=978-0-87413-816-0 |page=40 }}</ref> The antisemitic association persisted into modern times in Soviet Russia.<ref name="Soviet Union 2001, page 106"/> The medieval prejudice against red-hair may have derived from the ancient biblical tradition, in relation to biblical figures such as [[Esau]] and [[King David]]. The ancient historian [[Josephus]] would mistranslate the Hebrew Torah to describe the more positive figure of [[King David]] as 'golden haired', in contrast to the negative figure of [[Esau]], even though the original Hebrew Torah implies that both King David and Esau had 'fiery red hair'.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Evans |editor1-first=Craig A. |title=Interpretation of Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity: Studies in Language and Tradition |date=2004 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-0-567-04070-1 |pages=177–178 }}</ref>

==== Modern-day discrimination ====

In his 1885 book ''I Say No'', [[Wilkie Collins]] wrote "The prejudice against habitual silence, among the lower order of the people, is almost as inveterate as the prejudice against red hair."

In his 1895 memoir and history ''The Gurneys of Earlham'', [[Augustus John Cuthbert Hare]] described an incident of harassment:
"The second son, John, was born in 1750. As a boy he had bright red hair, and it is amusingly recorded that one day in the streets of Norwich a number of boys followed him, pointing to his red locks and saying, "Look at that boy; he's got a bonfire on the top of his head," and that John Gurney was so disgusted that he went to a barber's, had his head shaved, and went home in a wig. He grew up, however, a remarkably attractive-looking young man."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hare|first1=Augustus John Cuthbert|title=The Gurneys of Earlham.|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/gurneysofearlham01hareiala|date=1895|chapter="The Home of Earlham"}}</ref>
[[File:Frederick I (HRE).jpg|thumb|271x271px|Painting of [[Frederick Barbarossa]], Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 to 1190, from the [[Historia Welforum]]]]
In [[British English]], the word "ginger" is sometimes used to describe red-headed people (at times in an insulting manner),<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/jody-brettkelly/redheads-we-love_b_1634531.html|title = Redheads We Love!|work = The Huffington Post|access-date = 5 July 2012|date = 2012-06-29}}</ref> with terms such as "gingerphobia"<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/02/99/e-cyclopedia/686977.stm Gingerphobia: Carrot-tops see red] BBC News, 22 February 2000</ref> and "gingerism"<ref name =gingerism>{{cite news | last=BBC News | title=Is Gingerism as Bad as Racism? | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6725653.stm | access-date=5 July 2007 | date=6 June 2007}}</ref> used by the British media. It is roughly the color of dried, powdered [[Ginger|ginger root]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oxford English Dictionary s.v. "ginger" II.5b |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/78372 |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=Oxford English Dictionary}}</ref> In Britain, redheads are also sometimes referred to disparagingly as "carrot tops" and "carrot heads" (the comedian "[[Carrot Top]]" uses this [[stage name]]). "Gingerism" has been compared to [[racism]], although this is widely disputed, and bodies such as the UK [[Commission for Racial Equality]] do not monitor cases of discrimination and [[hate crime]]s against redheads.<ref name =gingerism />

Nonetheless, individuals and families in Britain are targeted for harassment and violence because of their hair colour.  In 2003, a 20-year-old was stabbed in the back for "being ginger".<ref>{{cite news | last=BBC News | title=Man stabbed over "ginger hair" | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/3233392.stm | access-date=5 July 2007 | date=24 November 2003}}</ref> In 2007, a UK woman won an award from a tribunal after being sexually harassed and receiving abuse because of her red hair;<ref>{{cite news|title=Woman wins ginger jibes tribunal|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6238332.stm|access-date=21 April 2017|work=BBC News|date=25 June 2007}}</ref> in the same year, a family in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], was forced to move twice after being targeted for abuse and hate crimes on account of their red hair.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/tyne/6714735.stm Red-haired family forced to move] BBC News, 2 June 2007</ref> In May 2009, a schoolboy committed suicide after being bullied for having red hair.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5312394/Schoolboy-bullied-over-ginger-hair-hanged-himself.html Schoolboy bullied over ginger hair hanged himself] Daily Telegraph, 12 May 2009</ref> In 2013, a fourteen-year-old boy in [[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]] had his right arm broken and his head stamped on by three men who attacked him "just because he had red hair"; the three men were subsequently jailed for a combined total of ten years and one month for the attack.<ref>{{cite news |title='Red hair revenge' attack on Lincoln boy sees men jailed |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-22164688 |work=BBC News |date=16 April 2013 |access-date=11 November 2013}}</ref> 
This prejudice has been satirised on a number of TV shows. English comedian [[Catherine Tate]] (herself a redhead) appeared as a red-haired character in a running sketch of her series ''[[The Catherine Tate Show]]''. The sketch saw fictional character [[The Catherine Tate Show characters#Sandra Kemp|Sandra Kemp]], who was forced to seek solace in a refuge for ginger people because she had been ostracised from society.<ref>[http://gingerism.com/2008/12/catherine-tate-ginger-refuge.html Catherine Tate: Ginger Refuge video] Gingerism.com, 18 December 2008</ref> The British comedy ''[[Bo' Selecta!]]'' (starring redhead [[Leigh Francis]]) featured a spoof documentary which involved a caricature of [[Mick Hucknall]] presenting a show in which celebrities (played by themselves) dyed their hair red for a day and went about daily life being insulted by people; Hucknall, who says that he has repeatedly faced prejudice or been described as ugly on account of his hair colour, argues that Gingerism should be described as a form of racism.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/04/1057179152947.html |title=Taking the Mick |first=Richard |last=Jinman |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=4 July 2003 |access-date=21 April 2017 }}</ref> Comedian [[Tim Minchin]], himself a redhead, also covered the topic in his song "Prejudice".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN_0qvuhhw| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/KVN_0qvuhhw| archive-date=2021-10-30|title=Prejudice by Tim Minchin|last=Tim Minchin|date=4 March 2010|access-date=19 August 2017|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The pejorative use of the word "ginger" and related discrimination was used to illustrate a point about racism and prejudice in the "[[Ginger Kids]]", "[[Le Petit Tourette]]", "[[It's a Jersey Thing]]" and "[[Fatbeard]]" episodes of ''[[South Park]]''.

Film and television programmes often portray school [[bullying|bullies]] as having red hair.<ref>{{cite web | last=Daily Bruin | title=The stigma of TV's redheads | date=3 April 2006 | url = https://dailybruin.com/2006/04/02/ithe-stigma-of-tvs-redheadsi/ | access-date=24 June 2015}}</ref> However, children with red hair are often themselves targeted by bullies; "Somebody with ginger hair will stand out from the crowd," says anti-bullying expert [[Louise Burfitt-Dons]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3378972|title=Carrot-Tops: Being Red Not So Easy|date=13 August 2007|work=ABC News|access-date=29 August 2013}}</ref>

In [[Australian slang]], redheads are often nicknamed "Blue" or "Bluey".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-slang|title=Australian slang – a story of Australian English|website=Australia.gov.au|access-date=2017-08-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819100138/http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-slang|archive-date=19 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> More recently, they have been referred to as "rangas" (a word derived from the red-haired ape, the [[orangutan]]), sometimes with derogatory connotations.<ref>{{cite web|title=Word of the month |url=http://andc.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/WOTM%20-%20Nov.%202012.pdf|work=Oxford Australia Word of the Month|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214223735/http://andc.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/WOTM%20-%20Nov.%202012.pdf|archive-date=14 February 2017}}</ref> The word "rufus" (a variant of [[rufous]], a reddish-brown color) has been used in both Australian and British slang to refer to red-headed people.<ref name=gnb>{{NSW GNR|id=TRjLBKtLKW|title=Rufus River|access-date=10 February 2013}}</ref>

In November 2008, social networking website [[Facebook]] received criticism after a "Kick a Ginger" group, which aimed to establish a "National Kick a Ginger Day" on 20 November, acquired almost 5,000 members. A 14-year-old boy from Vancouver who ran the Facebook group was subjected to an investigation by the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] for possible hate crimes.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/canada/3498766/Facebook-Kick-a-Ginger-campaign-prompts-attacks-on-redheads.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/canada/3498766/Facebook-Kick-a-Ginger-campaign-prompts-attacks-on-redheads.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Facebook 'Kick a Ginger' campaign prompts attacks on redheads|last=Moore|first=Matthew |date=22 November 2008 |work=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=28 December 2009 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In December 2009 British supermarket chain [[Tesco]] withdrew a [[Christmas card]] which had the image of a child with red hair sitting on the lap of [[Father Christmas]], and the words: "''Santa loves all kids. Even ginger ones''" after customers complained the card was offensive.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tesco apologises over 'ginger jibe' Christmas card |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/north_yorkshire/8411894.stm |work=BBC News |date=14 December 2009 }}</ref>

In October 2010, [[Harriet Harman]], the former Equality Minister in the British government under Labour, faced accusations of prejudice after she described the red-haired Treasury secretary [[Danny Alexander]] as a "ginger rodent".<ref>{{cite news|last=Milton|first=Nicholas|title=I too have ginger hair. Abusing us is not acceptable prejudice|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/10/ginger-hair-edward-watson-gingerism|access-date=21 April 2017|work=The Guardian|date=10 May 2016}}</ref> Alexander responded to the insult by stating that he was "proud to be ginger".<ref>{{cite news |title=Harriet Harman says 'ginger rodent' comment was wrong |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-11658228 |work=BBC News |date=30 October 2010 }}</ref> Harman was subsequently forced to apologise for the comment, after facing criticism for prejudice against a minority group.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/10/31/harman-sorry-for-ginger-rodent-jibe-115875-22677443/ |title= Harriet Harman apologises for 'ginger rodent' jibe at Danny Alexander |work=Daily Mirror |location= London |first=Vincent |last= Moss |date=31 October 2010}}</ref>

In September 2011, [[Cryos International]], one of the world's largest [[sperm bank]]s, announced that it would no longer accept donations from red-haired men due to low demand from women seeking [[artificial insemination]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.thestar.com/living/article/1056533--sperm-bank-can-t-find-takers-for-red-haired-genes?bn=1 | location=Toronto | work=The Star | title=Sperm bank can't find takers for red-haired genes | date=20 September 2011}}</ref>

{{anchor|Chinese slur}}<!--linked-->

==== Use of term in Singapore and Malaysia ====
The term ''[[ang mo]]'' ({{lang-zh|s=红毛|p=hóng máo|poj=âng-mo͘}}) in [[Hokkien dialect|Hokkien]] ([[Min Nan]]) Chinese, meaning "red-haired",<ref>{{cite book|author=Walter Henry Medhurst|author-link=Walter Henry Medhurst|title=A Dictionary of the Hok-Këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language, according to the Reading and Colloquial Idioms; containing about 12,000 Characters … Accompanied by a Short Historical and Statistical Account of Hok-Këèn; a Treatise on the Orthography of the … Dialect, etc.|location=Macao|publisher=Printed at the Honorable [[East India Company]]'s Press by G.J. Steyn and Brother|year=1832|page=481, col. 1|quote={{lang|zh|紅毛}} ''âng mô'', red haired, generally applied to the English people.}}</ref> is used in [[Malaysia]] and [[Singapore]], although it refers to all white people, never exclusively people with red hair. The epithet is sometimes rendered as ''ang mo kui'' ({{lang|zh|红毛鬼}}) meaning "red-haired devil", similar to the [[Cantonese]] term ''[[gweilo]]'' ("foreign devil"). Thus it is viewed as racist and derogatory by some people.<ref>See, for instance, {{cite news |title=Soh Chin |author=g Soh Chin|newspaper=[[The Straits Times]] (Life!) |location= Singapore |date=30 October 2004 |page=4|quote=[M]any of my Singaporean friends felt the term 'ang moh' was definitely racist. Said one, with surprising finality: 'The original term was "ang moh gui" which means "red hair devil" in Hokkien. That's definitely racist.' However, the 'gui' bit has long been dropped from the term, defanging it considerably. … Both 'ang moh gui' and 'gwailo' – Cantonese for 'ghost (white) guy' –  originated from the initial Chinese suspicion of foreigners way back in those days when the country saw itself as the Middle Kingdom.}}; {{cite news |author=Ashley, Sean |title=Stop calling me ang moh [letter] |newspaper=The Straits Times |date=5 November 2004|page=5|quote=As an 'ang moh' who has lived here for over six years, I hope more people will realise just how offensive the term is. |location= Singapore}}</ref> Others, however, maintain it is acceptable.<ref>For instance, {{cite news |title=ang moh |author=Hubble, Garry |newspaper=The Straits Times |location= Singapore |date=5 November 2004|page=5 |quote=To have my Chinese Singaporean friends call me 'ang moh' is more humorous than anything else. As no insult is intended, none is taken.}}</ref> Despite this ambiguity, it is a widely used term. It appears, for instance, in Singaporean newspapers such as ''[[The Straits Times]]'',<ref>{{cite news |author=Sargent, Michael D. |title=Lessons for this gweilo and ang moh |url=http://www.zalacliphairextensions.com.au/blog/lessons-for-this-gweilo-and-ang-moh/ |newspaper=The Straits Times |location=Singapore |date=21 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325163730/http://www.zalacliphairextensions.com.au/blog/lessons-for-this-gweilo-and-ang-moh/ |archive-date=25 March 2014}}; {{cite news |author=Ee Wen Wei, Jamie |title=Meet Bukit Panjang's 'ang moh leader' |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070515111426/http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_175635.html |url=http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_175635.html |archive-date=2007-05-15 |newspaper=The Straits Times |location=Singapore |date=11 November 2007 }}</ref> and in television programmes and films.

The Chinese characters for ''ang mo'' are the same as those in the historical Japanese term ''Kōmō'' ({{lang|ja|紅毛}}), which was used during the [[Edo period]] (1603–1868) as an epithet for Dutch or Northern European people. It primarily referred to [[Netherlands|Dutch]] traders who were the only Europeans allowed to trade with Japan during ''[[Sakoku]]'', its 200-year period of isolation.<ref>See, for example, {{cite journal|doi=10.2307/2383172 |author=Ranzaburo Otori|title=The Acceptance of Western Medicine in Japan |journal=[[Monumenta Nipponica]]|year=1964|volume=19|issue=3/4|pages=254–274|jstor=2383172}}; {{cite book |author=P[eng] Y[oke] Ho|author2=F. P[eter] Lisowski|chapter=A Brief History of Medicine in Japan|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dtxgS4TkxrUC&pg=PA73|title=Concepts of Chinese Science and Traditional Healing Arts: A Historical Review |location=Singapore |publisher=[[World Scientific]]|isbn=978-981-02-1495-1|id=(hbk.). |year=1993|pages=65–78 at 73|quote=The culture which entered Japan through the Dutch language was called Kōmō culture – Kōmō means red hair.}}; {{cite book |author=Winkel, Margarita |chapter=Academic Traditions, Urban Dynamics and Colonial Threat: The Rise of Ethnography in Early Modern Japan|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mezulNhciCgC&pg=PA53|editor=van Bremen, Jan |editor2=Akitoshi Shimizu |title=Anthropology and Colonialism in Asia and Oceania |location=Richmond, Surrey |publisher=Curzon |year=1999|pages=40–64 at 53|isbn=978-0-7007-0604-4|quote=His &#91;[[Morishima Chūryō]]'s&#93; book on the Dutch, 'Red-hair miscellany' (''Kōmō zatsuwa''), also appeared in 1787. … 'Red-hair miscellany' is the first book which contains a relatively extensive description of the daily life of the Dutch residents in the confinements of Deshima, the man made island allotted to them in the Bay of Nagasaki.}}; {{cite journal |author= Veldman, Jan E. |title=A Historical Vignette: Red-Hair Medicine |journal=ORL |year=2002|volume=64|issue=2|pmid=12021510|pages=157–165 |doi=10.1159/000057797 }}; {{cite journal|author=Thomas M. van Gulik|author2=Yuji Nimura |title=Dutch Surgery in Japan |journal=World Journal of Surgery| date=January 2005 |volume=29|pmid=15599736|issue=1|pages=10–17 at 10 |doi=10.1007/s00268-004-7549-3 |quote=Several Dutch surgical schools were founded through which Dutch surgery, known in Japan as 'surgery of the red-haired' was propagated.}}; {{cite news |author=Michael Dunn |title=Japanning for southern barbarians: Some of the first items traded with the West were decorated with maki-e lacquer|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fa20081120a1.html|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5qjK1lxHM?url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fa20081120a1.html |archive-date=24 June 2010|newspaper=[[Japan Times]]|date=20 November 2008|quote=Dutch taste dictated a new style of export lacquer known as 'komo shikki' ('red hair' – a common term for Northern Europeans), in which elaborate gold-lacquer decoration replaced the complex inlays of Nanban ware.|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The historic fortress [[Fort Santo Domingo]] in [[Tamsui District|Tamsui]], [[Taiwan]] was nicknamed in [[Taiwanese Hokkien|Taiwanese]] [[Hokkien]] {{lang-zh|t=紅毛城|poj=Âng-mn̂g-siâⁿ|l=[[ang mo|Red-hair (ang mo)]] fort}}.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{R:nan:tdj|poj=âng-mn̂g-siâⁿ|hj=紅毛城|v=1|p=94|n=918}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Blond hair]]
* [[Black hair]]
* [[Brown hair]]
* [[Erythrism]] – in non-human animals
* ''[[How to be a Redhead]]''
* [[List of people with red hair]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=fn}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book |last=Cass |first=Cort |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bp-DmMgkNoEC |title=The Redhead Handbook |date=2003 |publisher=Blue Mountain Arts, Inc. |isbn=978-1-58786-011-9}}

==External links==
{{Commons|Red hair}}
{{Wiktionary|redhead}}

{{Hair colors}}

[[Category:Red hair| ]]
[[Category:Stereotypes]]
[[Category:Hair color]]