Brown hair

"Brunette" redirects here. For other uses, see Brunette (disambiguation).

Actress Jennifer Connelly with dark brown hair

Brown hair is the second most common human hair color.

Brown hair varies from light brown to almost black hair. It is characterized by higher levels of the dark pigment eumelanin and lower levels of the pale pigment pheomelanin. Its strands are thicker than those of fair hair but not as much as those of red hair. People with brown hair are often referred to as brunette, the feminine form of the diminutive form brunet from brun (brown/brown-haired), the masculine form. Brown hair is common among Indo-Europeans and West Eurasians, especially those Central and Southern Europe, West Asia where it transitions smoothly into blackish-brown and black hair. Because of migration from Europe from the 16th to the 20th centuries, brown-haired humans are also found in North America, South America, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Siberia, and other parts of Asia and Oceania.

Etymology and grammar

Brunette literally means "little brown-haired girl" or "young brown-haired woman", but in modern English usage it has lost the diminutive meaning and refers simply to any brown-haired girl or woman, or the associated hair color. Although brunet is the masculine version of the popular diminutive form, used to describe a little boy or young man with brown hair, the use of brunet is uncommon in English. One is more likely to say, of a man or boy, "He has brown hair" or "He is brown-haired", than to say, "He is a brunette", (or brunet). The term brunette is the feminine form of the French word brunet which is a diminutive form of brun meaning "brown/brown-haired", the feminine of which is brune. All of these terms ultimately derive from the Germanic *brūnaz "brown", from the Proto-Indo-European root *bhrūn- "brown, grey". The form "brun" (pronounced broon) is still commonly used in Scotland, particularly in rural areas.

Lighter or darker shades of brown hair may be referred to as "light brunette" or "dark brunette", though in such cases one is generally referring only to the hair color, not using the term as a metaphor for the person; one would be unlikely to say, "She is a light brunette." Rather, one would say, "She has light brown hair."

Brown-haired individuals are present in all of Europe. In northern and part of central Europe medium to light brown shades are the most common, while darker shades prevail in the rest of the continent.

Biochemistry

The pigment Eumelanin (literally meaning "good" melanin) gives brown hair its distinctive color. Brown hair has more eumelanin than blond hair but also has much less than black. There are two different types of eumelanin, which are distinguished from each other by their pattern of polymer bonds. The two types are black eumelanin and brown eumelanin. Black eumelanin is the darkest; brown eumelanin is lighter than black. Black eumelanin is mostly present in non-Europeans and aged Europeans, while brown eumelanin is mostly present in young Europeans, and people of other ethnicities. A small amount of black eumelanin in the absence of other pigments causes grey hair. A small amount of brown eumelanin in the absence of other pigments causes yellow (blond) color hair. Often, natural blond or red hair will darken to a brown color over time. Brown-haired people have medium-thick strands of hair.

Brown-haired people are thought to produce more skin-protecting eumelanin and are associated with having a more even skin tone. The range of skin colors associated with brown hair is vast, ranging from the palest of skin tones to an olive complexion. Brunettes can have dark or light eyes.

Varieties of brown hair

Brown hair comes in a wide variety of shades from the very darkest of brown (almost black) to light brown showing small signs of blondism. Shades of brown hair include:

• deepest brunette - the darkest brown, which can be a very dark chestnut; sometimes appears to be off black at a distance.
• dark brown
• milk chocolate brown
• chestnut brown - medium to dark brown with dark red/auburn tones.
• light chestnut brown
• auburn brown - reddish shade of brown hair.
• medium brown
• medium golden brown - brown with yellowish tone.
• light golden brown
• light golden reddish brown - a warm light brown with red tones.
• medium ash brown
• light ash brown
• lightest brown

• 
  Deepest brown
  (Romanian) women
• 
  Chestnut brown
  (Elena Risteska)
• 
  Medium golden brown
  (Jennifer Love Hewitt)
• 
  Medium brown
  (Hugh Grant)
• 
  Auburn brown
  (Mike Michalowicz)
• 
  Light golden brown
  (A Macedonian girl)
• 
  Medium ash brown
  Sicilian girl

Culture

Cultural connotations

In Western popular culture, a common stereotype is that brunettes are stable, serious and sophisticated. A British study into hair color and the intensity of attraction found that 62 percent of the men participating in the study associated brown-haired women with stability and competence. Brunettes were described as independent and self-sufficient by 67 percent of the men, and as intelligent by 81 percent. According to Allure magazine, 76 percent of American women believe that the first female president will have brown hair.

Modern fiction

Anita Loos, the author of the novel and play Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, wrote a sequel entitled But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes. A film of this was made, Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, starring Jane Russell and Jeanne Crain.

Wonder Woman, the Amazon warrior of DC comics, who made her first appearance in 1941 is a blue-eyed brunette. Lara Croft, the fictional explorer of the Tomb Raider franchise has brown eyes and hair, though in most earlier games they were auburn.

Art and fiction

The Lady of Shalott from Lord Tennyson's poem is depicted as a brunette in most paintings. Leonardo da Vinci's most famous painting the Mona Lisa is also brunette. In the French folk song Au Clair de la Lune, the likable Lubin visits his brunette neighbor at Pierrot's suggestion. In the Irish song "The Star of the County Down" the narrator falls in love with a woman with "nut-brown" hair, called Rose McCann.

See also

• Hair color
• Chestnut hair
• Black hair
• Auburn hair
• Human skin color
• Melanin
• Orange