Why do loads of men have ginger beards?

HavingCrack

I'm completely baffled by this one. The amount of men I know with black, brown and blonde hair who have a red beard is ridiculously high. I'd actually say close to 50-50.

Does anyone know why this happens

liah

I'm convinced it's almost an exclusively Irish (and perhaps British Isles; moreso Scotland) thing.

I'd never seen a man with jet-black hair and dark eyes with ginger freckles and a ginger beard before going to Ireland. They're everywhere there, to the point where I don't think anyone who's from there would even notice there's a difference.

There's also a lot more people who go gray very young in Ireland, I think. Loads of people I know in their early 20's, sometimes younger, have gray hair. Think it ties in with the ginger thing, somehow, but I'm no expert.

I could be totally off the mark, but I'd reckon it's an Irish genetic distinction of some kind. I think it's pretty cool!

Galvasean

I too would like to know what's going on. I have sandy brown hair with a ginger beard. All of my male cousins have either brown or black hair and they also get giner beards.

Agricola

The science bit....

http://www.epsilon.hlgamers.com/blog/?p=44

Doesnt really account for the possibly exclusive Irishness of it.

Have you seen Frankie Boyle!

Ardennes1944

i dont see many young people going GREY here at all.

antopanto

Well i've brown hair, but if i could be arsed growing a beard it would be ginger, my Dad was a ginger nut, so maybe this is why, it could be a parent, grand parent, great grand parent and so on, once a ginner always a ginner:)

Galvasean

Galvasean wrote: »

I too would like to know what's going on. I have sandy brown hair with a ginger beard. All of my male cousins have either brown or black hair and they also get giner beards.

Should have mentioned my Mam and sister are gingers. Genetics!!!

parker kent

liah wrote: »

There's also a lot more people who go gray very young in Ireland, I think. Loads of people I know in their early 20's, sometimes younger, have gray hair. Think it ties in with the ginger thing, somehow, but I'm no expert.

I hope not :pac:

My facial hair actually goes through different colours depending on what stage of growth it is at. My personal favourite is my blonde phase before I turn strawberry blonde!

PK2008

Tis a secret old Celt way of letting people know you're part of the clan

Sugar Free

If I let it grow for over a week I get a little bit of ginger on my chin.
I keep it clean shaven though.

I also have a few stray grey hairs.
Annnnd I've dark hair, brown eyes and sallow skin.

I should start a support group or something!

Otis Driftwood

There are no red heads in my immediate lineage ie back as far as great grand parents at least yet in my own beard on occasion I get a ginger hair or two and Ive got pitch black hair (now with a generous smattering of greys).Easily disposed of though.

CK2010

I read somewhere that ginger hair doesnt go grey- it goes sandyish and then yellower and yellower til its eventually white! something about the pigment or something!

starviewadams

No gingers in my family either but my beard has a very ginger tinge to it,its darkens and is grand after 5/6 weeks but in the inbetween bit it looks horrible!

Wolfe Tone

Its just my chin which goes ginger, the rest is black!

Will

I've red hair, rock a red beard on occasion, however I'm the opposite. After a while it goes brown and even some stray grey hairs! :eek:

charlemont

front of chin is white now,lower chin is brown with some ginger, my upper lip is ginger, side of face is brown..yet iv a smig running from bottom lip along the centre of my chin thats brown, ive blue eyes, brown hair with an even mixture of grey, it seems to have stopped getting greyer too...

Nevyn

PK2008 wrote: »

Tis a secret old Celt way of letting people know you're part of the clan

It's not the celts, it's the sodding vikings.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=58639999

TouchingVirus

I dunno why this happens, but it really annoys me.

I'd love to grow a beard to see if it suits me, even a smig or whatever. I won't grow a moustache except for Movember, it looks ridiculously knackerish and doesn't suit my roundy face.

My stubble is black, but as soon as it starts to grow it turns ginger pretty quick. Nobody in my immediate lineage (Up to great-grandparents) has red hair, my dad's facial hair is dark brown/black (well, grey now).

kangaroo

I'm another person with brown hair* with a ginger beard. Like some others, mine goes all sorts of colours if I let it grow out. And grey/white is among there (but I'm late 30s now) i.e. it's not true with regard to ginger facial hair that it won't go grey - don't know about ordinary hair.

* I was very blonde when a child and still had streaks till I was about 20

Faith

It's really weird. I know several guys with very, very dark hair and ginger beards. Conversely, I met a guy recently with dark hair and a black beard and I was completely taken aback. I told a friend about him the next day and said "And he has a BLACK beard! :eek:". She was as shocked as me.

I think the ginger beards are cute though .

TouchingVirus

Faith wrote: »

I think the ginger beards are cute though .

If there are more opinions like this then I'll have to get over the shame of ginger beards :P

Faith

TouchingVirus wrote: »

If there are more opinions like this then I'll have to get over the shame of ginger beards :P

I've always had a thing for beards, and spent 6 months persuading my ex to grow one. He refused for that long before he was embarrassed about the fact it would be ginger. It was of course lovely in the end.

Mrmoe

I'm more curious about ginger pubes which has been pointed out to me with much hilarity on more than one occasion.:o

parker kent

Mrmoe wrote: »

I'm more curious about ginger pubes which has been pointed out to me with much hilarity on more than one occasion.:o

At least if you have got that far, you are on to a winner!

Galvasean

Couple of chicks liking the ginger beard. Luckily I'm sporting one at the moment.

To hide spots actually. Dont get too excited ladies.

parker kent

Galvasean wrote: »

Couple of chicks liking the ginger beard. Luckily I'm sporting one at the moment.

To hide spots actually. Dont get too excited ladies.

I was sporting one recently too due to a lack of razor blades in the shops and the snow trapping me from going anywhere else. I called it the Human Snood.

Think girls may have liked it as it helped cover my face :pac:

Truley

Wow this is amazing, my boyfriend has brown hair and a ginger beard. Thought it was unique to him, obviously not.

I had a teacher who had brown hair, brown beard but ginger sideburns. Very strange looking.

pigeonbutler

I'm also in the brown hair, ginger beard column. Was encouraged to grow the beard by an ex that was a redhead so she was into the ginger beard! I've kept it since and despite the slagging from my mates it's been pretty successful

amacachi

Blonde hair and ginger beard. Just a ginger beard soon, stupid early baldness. SIGH.

Josh_Calvert

pretty sure everyone has a range of melanin in their body hair...in the same way pubic hair is often a different shade to head hair, so facial hair can be pretty different to head hair.I have jet black hair bu tin the sun my beard goes every colour from red to blonde to silver...

liogairmhordain

CK2010 wrote: »

I read somewhere that ginger hair doesnt go grey- it goes sandyish and then yellower and yellower til its eventually white! something about the pigment or something!

this is happening to chris evans if the photo in last sunday's sunday times is anything to go by