Auburn Hair - Auburn in Human Culture

Auburn in Human Culture

Auburn hair occurs most frequently in the phenotypes originating in Northern Europe for example, Scandinavia, Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, the Benelux countries, France, Poland, and Russia. This hair color is less common further south and southeast, but can occur somewhat regularly in Southern Europe (more so in Spain, Portugal and Italy) and North Africa, Lebanon, west Syria, Palestinian territories, Jordan, Northern Iran, Central Iran, and sometimes Central Asia. Because of migration from Europe from the 16th to the 20th centuries, it can also be found in other parts of the world such as North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Siberia, etc. This hair color is also dominant in Australia, Canada and the United States among descendants of the Northern European (English, Scottish, Irish, German, Scandinavian, Polish, and Russian) immigrants. Auburn hair is also found in smaller numbers in Latin America, especially southern Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. In Argentina and Uruguay, today, auburn hair is quite common but it was very rare at the time of Independence from Spain. Auburn hair in Latin America is common among descendants of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French and Northern European (German, Scandinavian, British, Polish, and Russian) immigrants. This color is sometimes seen among the indigenous people of Formosa, but not the later Han Chinese immigrants.

Auburn hair is mostly associated with a fair complexion and light eye colors (blue, gray, green, and hazel). However, there are some auburn-haired people with brown eyes.

In the 21st century United States of America, the color that was chosen by the American Council on Education (ACE) to represent such fields of learning as forestry, environmental studies, and natural resource management is called "russet", but in actual practice, colleges, universities, and suppliers of academic regalia use a very similar tint of "auburn" color.