Red hair - wikipedia Red hair For the film, see Red Hair ( film ). `` Redhead '' redirects here. For other uses, see Redhead ( disambiguation ). Woman with red hair Man with red hair Red hair occurs naturally in 1 -- 2 % of the human population. It occurs more frequently ( 2 -- 6 % ) in people of northern or western European ancestry, and less frequently in other populations. Red hair appears most commonly in people with two copies of a recessive allele on chromosome 16 which produces an altered version of the MC1R protein. Red hair varies in hues from a deep burgundy or bright copper ( reddish - brown or auburn ) through to burnt orange or red - orange and strawberry blond. It is characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin and relatively low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. It is associated with fair skin color, lighter eye colors ( gray, blue, green, and hazel ), freckles, and sensitivity to ultraviolet light. Cultural reactions have varied from ridicule to admiration ; many common stereotypes exist regarding redheads and they are often portrayed as fiery - tempered. The term redhead has been in use since at least 1510. Contents 1 Geographic distribution 1.1 Modern 1.1. 1 North and West Europe 1.1. 2 Eastern and Southern Europe 1.1. 3 Middle East and Mediterranean 1.1. 4 Asia 1.1. 5 Americas, Oceania and South Africa 1.2 Historical 2 Biochemistry and genetics 2.1 Genetics 2.2 Evolution 2.2. 1 Origins 2.2. 2 Extinction hoax 3 Medical implications of the red hair gene 3.1 Melanoma 3.2 Pain tolerance and injury 4 Red hair of pathological origin 5 Culture 5.1 Beliefs about temperament 5.2 Fashion and art 5.3 Prejudice and discrimination against redheads 5.3. 1 Medieval beliefs 5.3. 2 Medieval antisemitism 5.3. 3 Modern - day discrimination 5.3. 4 Use of term in Singapore and Malaysia 5.4 Red hair festivals 5.5 Religious and mythological traditions 6 See also 7 References 8 External links Geographic distribution Modern North and West Europe Red hair is most commonly found at the northern and western fringes of Europe ; it is centered around populations in the British Isles. Redheads today are commonly associated with the Celtic Nations and to a far lesser extent the Germanic peoples. In Ireland, the percentage of population with red hair is estimated to be at around 10 %, making it the most red - haired country in the world. According to Britain 's DNA, 34.7 % of the Irish population carry the allele for red hair, although this does n't directly translate proportionally into births of red - haired children. Scotland also has a very high percentage with around 6 % of the population having red hair. Dr. Jim Wilson of Britain 's DNA study used a sample of 2,343 people, and found red hair occurrence of 6 % in Scotland, with 35 % overall carrying the allele and Edinburgh having the highest proportion at 40 %. 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 %. England has a red hair prevalence of around 4 %, with 28.5 % of population having the allele ; while in Wales 38 % of Welsh people carry the red - haired allele. A 1956 study of hair colour among British army recruits found higher levels of red hair in Wales and the English Border counties. Eastern and southern Europe A Roman fresco depicting Bacchus with red hair, Boscoreale, c. 30 BC Carleton Coon 's 1939 book The Races of Europe stated that rufosity ( reddish hair ) often occurred in Montenegrins. 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. In Sardinia, red hair is found at a frequency of 0.24 % of the population. Victorian era ethnographers considered the Udmurt people of the Volga to be `` the most red - headed men in the world '', a claim which has a solid basis even today, as the Volga region has more redheads per population than anywhere else in the world with the exception of Ireland. Middle East and Mediterranean Hades abducting Persephone, fresco in the small royal tomb at Vergina, Macedonia, Greece, c. 340 BC The Berber populations of Morocco and northern Algeria have occasional redheads. Red hair frequency is especially significant among the Riffians from Morocco and Kabyles from Algeria, respectively. The Queen of Morocco, Lalla Salma wife of king Mohammed VI, has red hair. Abd ar - Rahman I also had red hair, his mother being a Christian Berber slave. Red hair is also found amongst the Ashkenazi Jewish populations. In 1903, 5.6 % of Polish Jews had red hair. 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. In European culture, prior to 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. In Italy, red hair was associated with Italian Jews, and Judas was traditionally depicted as red - haired in Italian and Spanish art. Writers from Shakespeare to Dickens would identify Jewish characters by giving them red hair. The stereotype that red hair is Jewish remains in parts of Eastern Europe and Russia. Asia A Uyghur girl in Kashgar, China 's Xinjiang region, with auburn hair In Asia, genetic red hair is rare, but reddish - brown ( auburn ) hair can be found in the Levant ( Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Palestine ), in Turkey, in Caucasia, in Northern Kazakhstan, among Uyghurs and among Indo - Iranians. The use of henna on hair and skin for various reasons is common in Asia. When henna is used on hair it dyes the hair to different shades of red. Americas, Oceania and South Africa Emigration from Europe has multiplied the population of red haired humans in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In the United States, it is estimated that 2 -- 6 % of the population has red hair. This would give the U.S. the largest population of redheads in the world, at 6 to 18 million, compared to approximately 420,000 in Ireland and 300,000 in Scotland. Historical Woman 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. Several accounts by Greek writers mention redheaded people. A fragment by the poet Xenophanes describes the Thracians as blue - eyed and red - haired. In Asia, red hair has been found among the ancient Tocharians, who occupied the Tarim Basin in what is now the northwesternmost province of China. Caucasian Tarim mummies have been found with red hair dating to the 2nd millennium BC. Reddish - brown ( auburn ) hair is also found amongst 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. Biochemistry and Genetics A close - up view of red hair 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, discovered in 1997, appear to be associated with the melanocortin - 1 receptor ( MC1R ), which is found on chromosome 16. Red hair is associated with fair skin color because low concentrations of eumelanin throughout the body of those with red hair caused by a MC1R mutation can cause both. 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 recessive variant gene that gives people red hair generally results in skin that is unable to tan. Because of the natural tanning reaction to the sun 's ultraviolet light and high amounts of pheomelanin in the skin, freckles are a common but not all - inclusive feature of red - haired people. Eighty percent of redheads have an MC1R gene variant, and the prevalence of these alleles is highest in Scotland and Ireland. 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 mode of inheritance. Even if both parents do not have red hair themselves, both can be carriers for the gene and have a redheaded child. 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 always sufficient, for red hair production. Genetics The alleles Arg151Cys, Arg160Trp, Asp294His, and Arg142His on MC1R are shown to be recessives for the red hair phenotype. The gene HCL2 ( also called RHC or RHA ) on chromosome 4 may also be related to red hair. In species other than primates, red hair has different genetic origins and mechanisms. 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 Bodmer and 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. 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 untanned skin. However, in Northern Europe this does not happen, so redheads can become more common through genetic drift. Estimates on the original occurrence of the currently active gene for red hair vary from 20,000 to 100,000 years ago. A DNA study has concluded that some Neanderthals also had red hair, although the mutation responsible for this differs from that which causes red hair in modern humans. Extinction hoax See also : Disappearing blonde gene A 2007 report in The Courier - Mail, which cited the National Geographic magazine and unnamed `` geneticists '', said that red hair is likely to die out in the near future. 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 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 is n't going away ''. Red hair is caused by a relatively rare recessive allele ( variant of a gene ), the expression of which can skip generations. It is not likely to disappear at any time in the foreseeable future. Medical implications of the red hair gene Melanoma Melanin in the skin aids UV tolerance through suntanning, but fair - skinned persons lack the levels of melanin needed to prevent UV - induced DNA - damage. Studies have shown that red hair alleles in MC1R increase freckling and decrease tanning ability. It has been found that Europeans who are heterozygous for red hair exhibit increased sensitivity to UV radiation. 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 cancers such as melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma. Pain tolerance and injury Two studies have demonstrated that people with red hair have different sensitivity to pain compared to people with other hair colors. One study found that people with red hair are more sensitive to thermal pain ( associated with naturally occurring low vitamin K levels ), while another study concluded that redheads are less sensitive to pain from multiple modalities, including noxious stimuli such as electrically induced pain. Researchers have found that people with red hair require greater amounts of anesthetic. Other research publications have concluded that women with naturally red hair require less of the painkiller pentazocine than do either women of other hair colors or men of any hair color. A study showed women with red hair had a greater analgesic response to that particular pain medication than men. 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. 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. 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 hormone 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. Though the details are not clearly understood, it appears that there is some crosstalk between the POMC hormones ; this 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. One study, however, reports a link between red hair and a higher rate of 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 disorder : In cases of severe malnutrition, normally dark human hair may turn red or blonde. 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. rufous albinism ), sometimes seen in Africans and inhabitants of New Guinea, results in red hair and red - colored skin. Red hair is found on people lacking pro-opiomelanocortin. Culture Polychrome Roman marble statue depicting the goddess Tyche holding the infant Plutus in her arms, 2nd century AD, Istanbul Archaeological Museum In various times and cultures, red hair has been prized, feared, and ridiculed. Portrait of a Lady, ca. 1470 -- 1475, by Sandro Botticelli Elizabeth I of England, ca. 1588 Beliefs about 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 sanguine temperament. In the Indian medicinal practice of Ayurveda, redheads are seen as most likely to have a 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 Houyhnhnms, '' 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 ) of a red colour ( which might have been some excuse for an appetite a little irregular ) but black as a sloe ''. 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. In the novel and film Red - Headed Woman, the titular protagonist is a sexually aggressive home - wrecker who frequently throws violent temper tantrums. Fashion and art `` The Accolade '' 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. 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. Many painters have exhibited a fascination with red hair. The hair color `` 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 depicts the mythological goddess Venus as a redhead. Other painters notable for their redheads include the Pre-Raphaelites, Edmund Leighton, Modigliani, and Gustav Klimt. 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 featured red - heads Lucille Ball and Red Skelton in Technicolor. Prejudice and discrimination against redheads Medieval beliefs Barbarossa ( Redbeard ), Ottoman Admiral Red hair was thought to be a mark of a beastly sexual desire and moral degeneration. A savage red - haired man is portrayed in the fable by Grimm brothers ( Der Eisenhans ) as the spirit of the forest of iron. 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. Montague Summers, in his translation of the Malleus Maleficarum, notes that red hair and green eyes were thought to be the sign of a witch, a werewolf or a vampire during the Middle Ages ; 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 Fagin in a watercolour by ' Kyd ' During the Spanish Inquisition, people of red hair were identified as Jewish and isolated for persecution. 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. Writers from Shakespeare to Dickens would identify Jewish characters by giving them red hair, with red - hair being given by the authors to villainous Jewish characters such as Shylock and Fagin. The antisemitic association persisted into modern times in Soviet Russia. 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 '. Modern - day discrimination `` Carrot head '' redirects here. For the French novel, see Poil de carotte. 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. '' In British English, the word `` ginger '' is sometimes used to describe red - headed people ( at times in an insulting manner ), with terms such as `` gingerphobia '' and `` gingerism '' used by the British media. 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 crimes against redheads. 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 ''. In 2007, a UK woman won an award from a tribunal after being sexually harassed and receiving abuse because of her red hair ; in the same year, a family in Newcastle upon Tyne, was forced to move twice after being targeted for abuse and hate crime on account of their red hair. In May 2009, a schoolboy committed suicide after being bullied for having red hair. In 2013, a fourteen - year - old boy in 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. This prejudice has been satirised on a number of TV shows. The British 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 Sandra Kemp, who was forced to seek solace in a refuge for ginger people because she had been ostracised from society. 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. ) Comedian Tim Minchin, himself a redhead, also covered the topic in his song `` Prejudice ''. 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 bullies as having red hair. 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. In Australian slang, redheads are often nicknamed `` Blue '' or `` Bluey ''. More recently, they have been referred to as `` rangas '' ( a word derived from the red - haired ape, the orangutan ), sometimes with derogatory connotations. The word `` rufus '' has been used in both Australian and British slang to refer to red - headed people ; based on a variant of rufous, a reddish - brown color. 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. 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 Santa Claus, and the words : `` Santa loves all kids. Even ginger ones '' after customers complained the card was offensive. 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 ''. Alexander responded to the insult by stating that he was `` proud to be ginger ''. Harman was subsequently forced to apologise for the comment, after facing criticism for prejudice against a minority group. In September 2011, Cryos International, one of the world 's largest sperm banks, announced that it would no longer accept donations from red - haired men due to low demand from women seeking artificial insemination. Use of term in Singapore and Malaysia The term ang mo ( Chinese : 红 毛 ; pinyin : hóng máo ; Pe̍h - ōe - jī : âng - mo͘ ) in Hokkien ( Min Nan ) Chinese means `` red - haired '', and is used in Malaysia and Singapore to refer to white people. The epithet is sometimes rendered as ang mo kui ( 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. Others, however, maintain it is acceptable. Despite this ambiguity, it is a widely used term. It appears, for instance, in Singaporean newspapers such as The Straits Times, and in television programmes and films. The Chinese characters for ang mo are the same as those in the historical Japanese term Kōmō ( 紅 毛 ), which was used during the Edo period ( 1603 -- 1868 ) as an epithet for Dutch or Northern European people. It primarily referred to Dutch traders who were the only Europeans allowed to trade with Japan during Sakoku, its 200 - year period of isolation. Red hair festivals Hundreds of redheads together at the Redhead Day, September 2007 An annual festival in the Netherlands, Redhead Day, attracts red - haired participants from around the world. The festival is paid for by the local government in Breda, a city in the south east of the Netherlands. The festival in the Netherlands attracts participants from over 80 different countries. The festival began in 2005, when Dutch painter Bart Rouwenhorst decided he wanted to paint 15 redheads. Today, the festival includes music, fashion shows, art exhibitions and a picnic The Irish Redhead Convention, held in late August in County Cork, 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. A smaller red - hair day festival is held since 2013 by the UK 's anti bullying alliance in London, with the aim of instilling pride in having red - hair. Since 2014, a red - hair event is held in Israel, at Kibbutz Gezer ( Carrot ), held for the local Israeli red hair community, including both Ashkenazi and Mizrahi red - heads. However, the number of attendees has to be restricted due to the risk of rocket attacks, leading to anger in the red - hair community. The organizers state ; `` The event is a good thing for many redheads, who had been embarrassed about being redheads before. '' The first and only festival for red heads in the United States, was launched in 2015. Held in Highwood, Illinois, Chicago, Redhead Days, draws participants from across the United States. Religious and mythological Traditions In the Iliad, Achilles ' hair is described as ξανθῆς ( ksanthēs ), usually translated as blonde, or golden but sometimes as red or tawny. His son Neoptolemus also bears the name Pyrrhus, a possible reference to his own red hair. The Norse god Thor is usually described as having red hair. Mary Magdalene is commonly portrayed with long red hair, as in this painting by Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys The Hebrew word usually translated `` ruddy '' or `` reddish - brown '' ( admoni אדמוני, from the root ADM אדם, see also Adam and Edom ) was used to describe both Esau and David. Early artistic representations of Mary Magdalene usually depict her as having long flowing red hair, although a description of her hair color was never mentioned in the Bible, and it is possible the color is an effect caused by pigment degradation in the ancient paint. Judas Iscariot is also represented with red hair in Spanish culture and in the works of William Shakespeare, reinforcing the negative stereotype. See also Black hair Blond Brown hair List of redheads Erythrism -- in non-human animals References Jump up ^ `` Hair Color ''. thetech.org. The Tech Museum of Innovation. 26 August 2004. Retrieved 14 January 2017. When someone has both of their MC1R genes mutated, this conversion does n't happen anymore and you get a buildup of pheomelanin, which results in red hair ^ Jump up to : Valverde P, Healy E, Jackson I, Rees JL, Thody AJ ( 1995 ). `` Variants of the melanocyte - stimulating hormone receptor gene are associated with red hair and fair skin in humans ''. Nature Genetics. 11 ( 3 ) : 328 -- 30. PMID 7581459. doi : 10.1038 / ng1195 - 328. Jump up ^ `` redhead, n. and adj. ''. OED Online. Oxford University Press. June 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011. ^ Jump up to : Moffat, Alistair. `` Celts ' red hair could be attributed to the cloudy weather ''. Retrieved 31 December 2014. Jump up ^ Moffat, Alistair ; Wilson, James. `` The Scots : A Genetic Journey ''. Retrieved 6 June 2016. Jump up ^ Mulranny, Francis. `` Founders of National Love Your Red Hair Day launch new redhead beauty book ''. Retrieved 6 June 2016. Jump up ^ Donaldson - James, Susan. `` You Got the Luck of the Irish : You 're a Redhead ! ''. Retrieved 6 June 2016. Jump up ^ Gayle, Damien. `` Secret army of red heads : Research reveals there are 20MILLION red hair gene carriers in the UK ''. Retrieved 6 June 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Secret army of red heads : Research reveals there are 20MILLION red hair gene carriers in the UK ''. ^ Jump up to : Cramb, Auslan ( 24 August 2013 ). `` Edinburgh is surprise capital of redheaded Britain and Ireland ''. The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 April 2017. Jump up ^ `` Britains DNA Announces the Results of the Red - Head Project '' ( PDF ). Ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2017 - 08 - 19. Jump up ^ Gray, John. `` Memoir on the Pigmentation Survey of Scotland ''. JSTOR 2843323. Missing or empty url = ( help ) Jump up ^ Sunderland E ( May 1956 ). `` Hair - color variation in the United Kingdom ''. Annals of Human Genetics. 20 ( 4 ) : 312 -- 33. PMID 13314401. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1469 - 1809.1955. tb01286. x. Jump up ^ Coon, Carleton Stevens. The Races of Europe. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1939, Chapter XII, section 12 Jump up ^ Coon, Carleton Stevens ( 1939 ). `` The Central Zone, A Study in Reëmergence ''. The Races of Europe. New York : The Macmillan Company. p. 557. OCLC 575541610. Retrieved 15 October 2015. About 20 per cent have black hair, and 48 per cent dark brown ; reddish brown shades, or dark to medium brown with a reddish glint, account for some 16 per cent, while the remaining 6 per cent have light brown or blondish colors. Jump up ^ Carleton S. Coon, The Races of Europe ( 1939 ), Greenwood Press, 1972, p. 557 ^ Jump up to : Consanguinity, Inbreeding, and Genetic Drift in Italy, Princeton University Press, 15 Feb 2013, Luigi Luca Cavalli - Sforza, Antonio Moroni, Gianna Zei, page 270 Jump up ^ Fernández - Armesto, Felipe ( 1994 ). The Times guide to the peoples of Europe. London : Times Books. ISBN 0 - 7230 - 0624 - 5. Jump up ^ Harvey, Jacky Colliss ( 9 June 2015 ). `` Red : A History of the Redhead ''. Hachette Books -- via Google Books. Jump up ^ Stirling, John ( 1870 -- 1871 ). `` The Races of Morocco ''. Journal of the Anthropological Society of London. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 8 : clxix -- clxxiii. JSTOR 3025183. doi : 10.2307 / 3025183. Jump up ^ Coon, Carleton Stevens ( 1939 ). `` The Mediterranean World ''. The Races of Europe. New York : The Macmillan Company. pp. 480 -- 482. OCLC 575541610. Retrieved 16 June 2013. Jump up ^ `` 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 Jump up ^ `` There are, however, a noticeable number of Kabyles with red hair, blue eyes and fair skin '', Area Handbook for Algeria, American University, 1965, p. 91 Jump up ^ Abel, Ernest L. ( 2001 ). Jewish genetic disorders : a layman 's guide. Jefferson, N.C : McFarland. p. 229. ISBN 0 - 7864 - 0941 - X. Jump up ^ Elkind. Evrei Trudi Antropologitshes - kavo Amdilla, xxi., Moscow, 1903 Jump up ^ Maurice Fishberg ( 1911 ). Jews, race & environment. 99. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4128 - 0574 - 2 ^ Jump up to : The Jewish Persona in the European Imagination : A Case of Russian Literature, By Leonid Livak, ( Stanford University Press 2010 ). ^ Jump up to : Judas 's Red Hair and The Jews, Journal of Jewish Art ( 9 ), 31 -- 46, 1982, Melinnkoff R.M ^ Jump up to : Shakespeare and the Mediterranean : the selected proceedings of the International Shakespeare Association World Congress, Valencia, 2001, Theatres and Performances, ( University of Delaware Press, 2004 ), page 40 ^ Jump up to : Jewish hearts : a study of dynamic ethnicity in the United States and the Soviet Union, SUNY Press, 2001, Betty N. Hoffman, page 106 Jump up ^ Brooker, R. Genetics : Analysis and principles. ISBN 0 - 07 - 747490 - 2 Jump up ^ cummings, M. ( 2013 ). Human heredity : Principles and issues. ISBN 1 - 133 - 10687 - 0 Jump up ^ Kenny, E, et al., `` Melanesian Blond Hair Is Caused by an Amino Acid Change in TYRP1 '', Science, 4 May 2012, Vol. 336 no. 6081 p. 554. Jump up ^ `` 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. '' Xenophanes of Colophon : Fragments, Xenophanes, J.H. Lesher, University of Toronto Press, 2001, ISBN 0 - 8020 - 8508 - 3, p. 90. Jump up ^ `` Mysterious Mummies of China ''. NOVA. Season 25. 20 January 1998. Jump up ^ `` Journal of the Polynesian Society : Front Matter P 1 - 6 ''. auckland.ac.nz. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Jump up ^ Box NF, Wyeth JR, et al. ( October 1997 ). `` Characterization of melanocyte stimulating hormone receptor variant alleles in twins with red hair. ''. Human Molecular Genetics. 6 ( 11 ) : 1891 -- 97. PMID 9302268. doi : 10.1093 / hmg / 6.11. 1891. ^ Jump up to : Harding, Rosalind M. ; et al. ( April 2000 ). `` Evidence for Variable Selective Pressures at MC1R ''. American Journal of Human Genetics. 66 ( 4 ) : 1351 -- 61. PMC 1288200. PMID 10733465. doi : 10.1086 / 302863. Jump up ^ `` HGNC Symbol Report : HCL2 ''. Gene.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2017 - 08 - 19. Jump up ^ H. Eiberg & J. Mohr ( August 1987 ). `` Major locus for red hair color linked to MNS blood groups on chromosome 4 ''. Clinical Genetics. 32 ( 2 ) : 125 -- 28. PMID 3477350. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1399 - 0004.1987. tb03339. x. Jump up ^ Bodmer WF, Cavalli - Sforza LL. Genetics, evolution and man. San Francisco : WH Freeman ; 1976. Jump up ^ `` Nicole 's hair secrets ''. The Daily Telegraph. London. 2 October 2002. Archived from the original on 2 February 2007. Jump up ^ `` Red hair genes 100,000 years old ''. Oxford Blueprint. 1 ( 11 ). 31 May 2001. Archived from the original on 9 July 2001. Jump up ^ Culotta, Elizabeth ( 26 October 2007 ). `` Ancient DNA Reveals Neandertals With Red Hair, Fair Complexions ''. Science. 318 ( 5850 ) : 546 -- 47. PMID 17962526. doi : 10.1126 / science. 318.5850. 546. Retrieved 16 May 2011. Jump up ^ Gingers extinct in 100 years. News.com.au. Retrieved 28 June 2009. ^ Jump up to : Redhead extinction. HowStuffWorks. Retrieved 28 June 2009. Jump up ^ Flanagan N, Healy E, Ray A, et al. ( October 2000 ). `` Pleiotropic effects of the melanocortin 1 receptor ( MC1R ) gene on human pigmentation ''. Hum. Mol. Genet. 9 ( 17 ) : 2531 -- 7. PMID 11030758. doi : 10.1093 / hmg / 9.17. 2531. Jump up ^ Rees JL ( November 2004 ). `` The genetics of sun sensitivity in humans ''. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 75 ( 5 ) : 739 -- 51. PMC 1182105. PMID 15372380. doi : 10.1086 / 425285. Jump up ^ Rees JL ( 2002a ) Molecular phototypes. In : Ortonne J-P, Ballotti R ( eds ) Mechanisms of suntanning. Martin Dunitz, London, pp 333 -- 339 Jump up ^ Rees JL ( 2002b ) Skin cancer ( including nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome ). In : Vogelstein B, Kinzler K ( eds ) The genetic basis of human cancer, 2nd ed. McGraw - Hill, New York, pp. 529 -- 548 Jump up ^ Liem EB, Joiner TV, Tsueda K, Sessler DI ( 2005 ). `` Increased sensitivity to thermal pain and reduced subcutaneous lidocaine efficacy in redheads ''. Anesthesiology. 102 ( 3 ) : 509 -- 14. PMC 1692342. PMID 15731586. doi : 10.1097 / 00000542 - 200503000 - 00006. Jump up ^ Sullivan, Amy ( 11 December 2005 ). `` Stoic Redheads ''. New York Times. Retrieved 22 May 2010. Jump up ^ `` Do redheads really feel more pain ? The jury 's still out ''. Wellness Blog on TIME.com. 12 August 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2010. ^ Jump up to : Mogil JS, Ritchie J, Smith SB, et al. ( July 2005 ). `` Melanocortin - 1 receptor gene variants affect pain and mu - opioid analgesia in mice and humans ''. Journal of Medical Genetics. 42 ( 7 ) : 583 -- 7. PMC 1736101. PMID 15994880. doi : 10.1136 / jmg. 2004.027698. Jump up ^ Liem EB, Lin CM, Suleman MI, et al. ( August 2004 ). `` Anesthetic requirement is increased in redheads ''. Anesthesiology. 101 ( 2 ) : 279 -- 83. PMC 1362956. PMID 15277908. doi : 10.1097 / 00000542 - 200408000 - 00006. Jump up ^ Mogil JS, Wilson SG, Chesler EJ, et al. ( April 2003 ). `` The melanocortin - 1 receptor gene mediates female - specific mechanisms of analgesia in mice and humans ''. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 100 ( 8 ) : 4867 -- 72. PMC 153647. PMID 12663858. doi : 10.1073 / pnas. 0730053100. ^ Jump up to : Liem EB, Lin CM, Suleman MI, et al. ( 2004 ). `` Anesthetic requirement is increased in redheads ''. Anesthesiology. 101 ( 2 ) : 279 -- 83. PMC 1362956. PMID 15277908. doi : 10.1097 / 00000542 - 200408000 - 00006. Jump up ^ Kumar VV, Kumar NV, Isaacson G ( November 2004 ). `` Superstition and post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage ''. The Laryngoscope. 114 ( 11 ) : 2031 -- 3. PMID 15510037. doi : 10.1097 / 01. mlg. 0000147942.82626. 1c. ^ Jump up to : Liem Edwin B, et al. ( 2006 ). `` Women with Red Hair Report a Slightly Increased Rate of Bruising but Have Normal Coagulation Tests ''. Anesthesia & Analgesia. 102 ( 1 ) : 313 -- 318. PMC 1351323. PMID 16368849. doi : 10.1213 / 01.ANE.0000180769.51576.CD. ^ Jump up to : Pathology Guy : Accumulations and Deposits Ed Friedlander, M.D., Pathologist. Last updated 24 September 2006 Jump up ^ Challis BG, Pritchard LE, Creemers JW, et al. ( August 2002 ). `` A missense mutation disrupting a dibasic prohormone processing site in pro-opiomelanocortin ( POMC ) increases susceptibility to early - onset obesity through a novel molecular mechanism ''. Hum. Mol. Genet. 11 ( 17 ) : 1997 -- 2004. PMID 12165561. doi : 10.1093 / hmg / 11.17. 1997. Krude H, Biebermann H, Gruters A ( June 2003 ). `` Mutations in the human proopiomelanocortin gene ''. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 994 ( 1 ) : 233 -- 9. PMID 12851321. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1749 - 6632.2003. tb03185. x. Jump up ^ The Practical Magnetic Healer G.M. Brown 1899 Jump up ^ Swift, Jonathan ( 1 February 1997 ). `` Gulliver 's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World ''. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 19 August 2017. Jump up ^ Nicole Hahn Rafter ( ed ), Lombroso & Ferraro, Criminal Woman, the Prostitute, and the Normal Woman, Duke University Press, 2004, pp. 123 -- 24. Jump up ^ Henna -- history Plant Cultures : Exploring plants and people. 18 November 2004 Jump up ^ `` Image Young Redhead in an Evening Dress ''. WebMuseum. Retrieved 11 May 2011. Jump up ^ `` Danae ''. WebMuseum. Retrieved 11 May 2011. Jump up ^ Palo Galloni, Il sacro artefice, Laterza, Bari 1998 ( Italian book, chapter 2 about the recipe of Theophilus De auro hyspanico ). Jump up ^ Summers, Montague ; Sprenger & Kramer ( 1971 ) ( First published 1484 ). Malleus Maleficarum. pp. Ch. 3. ISBN 0 - 486 - 22802 - 9. -- see Malleus Maleficarum Jump up ^ Interpretation of Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity : Studies in Language and Tradition, Craig A. Evans, Bloomsbury Publishing, 13 Dec 2004, page 177 - 178 Jump up ^ Hare, Augustus John Cuthbert ( 1895 ). `` '' The Home of Earlham `` ''. The Gurneys of Earlham. Jump up ^ `` Redheads We Love ! ''. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 5 July 2012. Jump up ^ Gingerphobia : Carrot - tops see red BBC News, 22 February 2000 ^ Jump up to : BBC News ( 6 June 2007 ). `` Is Gingerism as Bad as Racism ? ''. Retrieved 5 July 2007. Jump up ^ BBC News ( 24 November 2003 ). `` Man stabbed over `` ginger hair '' ``. Retrieved 5 July 2007. Jump up ^ `` Woman wins ginger jibes tribunal ''. BBC News. 25 June 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2017. Jump up ^ Red - haired family forced to move BBC News, 2 June 2007 Jump up ^ Schoolboy bullied over ginger hair hanged himself Daily Telegraph, 12 May 2009 Jump up ^ `` ' Red hair revenge ' attack on Lincoln boy sees men jailed ''. BBC News. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013. Jump up ^ Catherine Tate : Ginger Refuge video Gingerism.com, 18 December 2008 Jump up ^ Jinman, Richard ( 4 July 2003 ). `` Taking the Mick ''. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 April 2017. Jump up ^ Todd, Ben ( 25 June 2011 ). `` Mick Hucknall says that ' ginger ' jibes are as bad as racism ''. The Insider. London. Jump up ^ Tim Minchin ( 4 March 2010 ). `` Prejudice by Tim Minchin ''. YouTube. Retrieved 19 August 2017. Jump up ^ Daily Bruin. `` The stigma of TV 's redheads ''. Retrieved 24 June 2015. Jump up ^ `` Carrot - Tops : Being Red Not So Easy ''. ABC News. 13 August 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2013. Jump up ^ `` Australian slang -- a story of Australian English ''. Australai.gov.au. Retrieved 2017 - 08 - 19. Jump up ^ `` Word of the month '' ( PDF ). Oxford Australia Word of the Month. Oxford University Press. November 2012. Jump up ^ `` Rufus River ''. Geographical Names Register ( GNR ) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 February 2013. Jump up ^ Moore, Matthew ( 22 November 2008 ). `` Facebook ' Kick a Ginger ' campaign prompts attacks on redheads ''. The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 28 December 2009. Jump up ^ `` Tesco apologises over ' ginger jibe ' card ''. BBC News. 14 December 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2009. Jump up ^ Milton, Nicholas ( 10 May 2016 ). `` I too have ginger hair. Abusing us is not acceptable prejudice ''. The Guardian. Retrieved 21 April 2017. Jump up ^ `` Harriet Harman says ' ginger rodent ' comment was wrong ''. BBC News. 30 October 2010. Jump up ^ Moss, Vincent ( 31 October 2010 ). `` Harriet Harman apologises for ' ginger rodent ' jibe at Danny Alexander ''. Daily Mirror. London. Jump up ^ `` Sperm bank ca n't find takers for red - haired genes ''. The Star. Toronto. 20 September 2011. Jump up ^ Walter Henry Medhurst ( 1832 ). `` 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. ''. Macao : Printed at the Honorable East India Company 's Press by G.J. Steyn and Brother : 481, col. 1. 紅 毛 âng mô, red haired, generally applied to the English people. Jump up ^ See, for instance, g Soh Chin ( 30 October 2004 ). The Straits Times ( Life ! ). Singapore. p. 4. ( 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. Missing or empty title = ( help ) ; Ashley, Sean ( 5 November 2004 ). `` Stop calling me ang moh ( letter ) ''. The Straits Times. Singapore. p. 5. As an ' ang moh ' who has lived here for over six years, I hope more people will realise just how offensive the term is. Jump up ^ For instance, Hubble, Garry ( 5 November 2004 ). The Straits Times. Singapore. p. 5. To have my Chinese Singaporean friends call me ' ang moh ' is more humorous than anything else. As no insult is intended, none is taken. Missing or empty title = ( help ) Jump up ^ Sargent, Michael D. ( 21 October 2007 ). `` Lessons for this gweilo and ang moh ''. The Straits Times. Singapore. ; Ee Wen Wei, Jamie ( 11 November 2007 ). `` Meet Bukit Panjang 's ' ang moh leader ' ''. The Straits Times. Singapore. Archived from the original on 2007 - 05 - 15. Jump up ^ See, for example, Ranzaburo Otori ( 1964 ). `` The Acceptance of Western Medicine in Japan ''. Monumenta Nipponica. 19 ( 3 / 4 ) : 254 -- 274. JSTOR 2383172. doi : 10.2307 / 2383172. ; P ( eng ) Y ( oke ) Ho ; F. P ( eter ) Lisowski ( 1993 ). `` A Brief History of Medicine in Japan ''. Concepts of Chinese Science and Traditional Healing Arts : A Historical Review. Singapore : World Scientific. pp. 65 -- 78 at 73. ISBN 978 - 981 - 02 - 1495 - 1. ( hbk. ). ISBN 978 - 981 - 02 - 1496 - 8. The culture which entered Japan through the Dutch language was called Kōmō culture -- Kōmō means red hair. ; Winkel, Margarita ( 1999 ). `` Academic Traditions, Urban Dynamics and Colonial Threat : The Rise of Ethnography in Early Modern Japan ''. In van Bremen, Jan ; Akitoshi Shimizu, eds. Anthropology and Colonialism in Asia and Oceania. Richmond, Surrey : Curzon. pp. 40 -- 64 at 53. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7007 - 0604 - 4. His ( Morishima Chūryō 's ) 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. CS1 maint : Extra text : editors list ( link ) ; Veldman, Jan E. ( 2002 ). `` A Historical Vignette : Red - Hair Medicine ''. ORL. 64 ( 2 ) : 157 -- 165. PMID 12021510. doi : 10.1159 / 000057797. ; Thomas M. van Gulik ; Yuji Nimura ( January 2005 ). `` Dutch Surgery in Japan ''. World Journal of Surgery. 29 ( 1 ) : 10 -- 17 at 10. PMID 15599736. doi : 10.1007 / s00268 - 004 - 7549 - 3. Several Dutch surgical schools were founded through which Dutch surgery, known in Japan as ' surgery of the red - haired ' was propagated. ; Michael Dunn ( 20 November 2008 ). `` Japanning for southern barbarians : Some of the first items traded with the West were decorated with maki - e lacquer ''. Japan Times. Archived from the original on 24 June 2010. 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. Jump up ^ Spencer, Clare ( 9 September 2009 ). `` People get red - dy ''. BBC News Magazine. BBC. Retrieved 10 September 2009. Jump up ^ Thousands of ginger people flock to Holland to celebrate International Redhead Day, HAYLEY RICHARDSON, 4 September 2016, The Sun Jump up ^ Curtis, Dan ( 25 Aug 2014 ). `` The Irish Redhead Convention takes place in County Cork ''. BBC News. Retrieved 4 Sep 2014. Jump up ^ Mulroy, Zahra ( 2 July 2015 ). `` Ginger Pride festival will be held in 2016 to celebrate redheads ''. Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2017. Jump up ^ `` Israel holds first conference for ' gingers ' ''. Al-monitor.com. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2017. Jump up ^ Fifty shades of orange : A conference on Kibbutz Gezer redheads By Hagai Matar, Mekomit.co.il, 08 / 28 / 2014 ^ Jump up to : Finally, a Red Alert This Summer That ( Most ) Israelis Welcomed Roy Arad, Haaretz.com, August 30, 2014 Jump up ^ Photos : We Visited The Only Festival For Redheads In The U.S. BY JESSICA MLINARIC IN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, Chicagoist Jump up ^ `` Homer, Iliad, Book 1 ''. Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University. Retrieved 2 May 2011. Jump up ^ Homer ( 1999 ). The Iliad. Trans. Ian Johnston, Ian C. Johnston. Penguin. p. 210. ISBN 978 - 0 - 9776269 - 0 - 8. Retrieved 1 May 2011. 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. Jump up ^ Homer ( 1999 ). The Iliad : the story of Achillês. Trans. William Henry Denham Rouse. Penguin. pp. 14 -- 15. ISBN 978 - 0 - 451 - 52737 - 0. Retrieved 1 May 2011. 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. Jump up ^ Homer ( 1999 ). Iliad : Books 1 -- 12. Trans. Augustus Taber Murray, William F. Wyatt. Harvard University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978 - 0 - 674 - 99579 - 6. Retrieved 1 May 2011. Jump up ^ Grant, Michael ; Hazel, John ( 2002 ). Who 's who in classical mythology. Psychology Press. p. 359. ISBN 978 - 0 - 415 - 26041 - 1. Retrieved 1 May 2011. 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. Jump up ^ Lacy, Terry G. ( 2000 ). Ring of Seasons : Iceland -- Its Culture and History. University of Michigan Press. p. 85. ISBN 978 - 0 - 472 - 08661 - 0. Retrieved 1 May 2011. 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. Jump up ^ `` Red ''. Biblicaltraining.org. Jump up ^ `` Strong 's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible ''. Abibleconcordance.com. Retrieved 2017 - 08 - 19. Jump up ^ `` Biblos Strong 's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible ''. Biblesuite.com. Retrieved 2017 - 08 - 19. Jump up ^ `` Biblos Strong 's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible ''. Biblesuite.com. Retrieved 2017 - 08 - 19. Jump up ^ Red Hair. The eclectic magazine of foreign literature, science, and art. 2. Leavitt, Trow, & Co. July 1851. pp. 315 -- 317. Jump up ^ White, Joseph Blanco ( 1825 ). Letters from Spain. H. Colburn. p. 256. Jump up ^ Nares, Robert ; Halliwell - Phillipps, James Orchard ; Wright, Thomas ( 1859 ). 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. 1. J.R. Smith. p. 473. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Red hair. Look up redhead in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. 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Question: where does the ginger hair gene come from
Answer: two copies of a recessive allele on chromosome 16