Ask anything.
Why do people have different eye colours?
Our eye colour depends on how much of a coloured substance called melanin is in our eyes, and on our genes.
The coloured part of our eye is called the iris. Inside the iris there is a coloured substance called melanin. If there is a lot of melanin, the eyes look brown or almost black. If there is only a little melanin, the eyes look blue or green. Actually, no one really has blue paint in their eyes. It is the way light hits the iris and bounces back that makes the eye look blue.
Our eye colour comes from genes we get from our mum and dad. The genes from both parents mix together and decide the child's eye colour. That is why, in one family, even brothers and sisters can have different eye colours.
When babies are born, their eye colour is not fully set yet. The amount of melanin can grow during the first few years, so some babies' eyes change colour over time.
Quick facts
- The amount of melanin in our iris decides our eye colour.
- A lot of melanin makes brown or black eyes.
- A little melanin makes eyes look blue or green.
- Genes for eye colour pass from parents to their child.
- A baby's eye colour can change after it is born.
- The most common eye colour in the world is brown.
Check what you remember
4 questions — all of them come from the quick facts above. There is no score and no wrong turn.
1. What mainly decides our eye colour?
2. What do eyes with a lot of melanin usually look like?
3. Where do our eye colour genes come from?
4. What is the most common eye colour in the world?
Where this comes from
-
1 tr.wikipedia.org 85/100Eye colour - Wikipedia
An encyclopedia page that explains simply how eye colour happens.
-
2 tr.wikipedia.org 80/100Melanin - Wikipedia
Explains the melanin substance that colours our eyes, hair and skin.
-
3 tr.wikipedia.org 75/100Heredity - Wikipedia
A page explaining how features pass from parents to their child.
ReKid™ is not just a search
- The answer to the question is checked for accuracy before it is shown
- An age-appropriate explanation of the topic, written to be read
- A set of short facts about the topic
- A set of short facts on subjects connected to the topic
- A short quiz built from the topic, the facts and the connected facts
- Up to five safe recommended links about the topic
- PDF export, and every topic searched is kept
- Everything from earlier keys carries over to a new key, complete
- No advertising
- No tracking
- A knowledge support set that needs no personal account