Most Common Hair Color in The UK & The Most Popular Hair Colors

The United Kingdom is one of the most urban countries in the world with lots of cultures and people, making it the melting point of lots of cultures and nations.

The European country has over 8 million citizens who speak in different languages, with over 300 languages spoken in London alone. 

One thing that many people find interesting about the UK’s population is their accent as there is a variety of those scattered across the country. Moving a few kilometers could bring you in contact with a different accent.

Beyond its unique accent, we are also curious about the kinds of hair color you find across several regions in the UK. 

If you’d like to know about the most common hair color in the UK, whether you live there, plan to visit, or you’re just plain curious, find out in the following paragraphs. 

What Is the Most Common Hair Color The UK?

The three most common hair colors across the United Kingdom are blonde, brown, and black. However, black hair is less common than brown and blonde. Also, these hair colors are often predominant depending on what region of the country you’re visiting.

1. Blonde Hair     

Blonde Hair - Most popular and common hair colour in UK

The UK has a lot of natural blonds (and plenty of fakes too). You’ll find that about 29% of people in the UK are natural blondes, which is probably three in ten people. 

This blonde color often ranges from light blonde to darker shades, depending on where you go. You’d also find ashy blonde that’s tending towards brown, but not quite brown.

You’d mostly find natural blondes amongst the indigenous people in the South. However, in the past decade, it has become harder to tell the real from the fake blondes. About 39% of Brits who changed their hair color in the past 3 years changed their hair color to blonde.

2. Brown Hair

Brown - Second most common hair color in UK

Based on statistics, about 48% of Brits are natural brunettes, nearly half of the population. 

Brown hair color occurs more than blonde hair, ranging from medium brown to light brown, especially in the South and amongst indigenous Brits. 

However, when you head up north, you’ll find a lot darker shades of brown.

Brown hair is the most common hair color amongst the native English, Welsh and Scottish population, although the shades get darker across parts of Scotland.

Even with the high patronage of blonde hair dyes, there’s still a majority of naturally occurring brown hair across the UK. 

A little over 36% of persons who dyed their hair in the past years opted for brown, so you’ll find some salon-made brunettes in the population too. 

3. Black Hair 

Black - One of the most common hair colour in the UK

An estimated 8% of Brits have naturally black hair, which is not by far as common as brown and blondes.

However, it is quite common amongst white Britons and mostly occurs amongst the Welsh, although you can find it across the island.

Interestingly, you’ll find an enclave somewhere in the far north of Scotland where a vast majority of people have black hair and dark eyes.

Black hair isn’t as popular in the salons as well, as only 8% of people have opted for black hair dye in the past years.

What Is the Most Unpopular Hair Color in the UK?

Red is the most hated hair color in the United Kingdom, and there’s a lot of hate stories, bullying, and even suicides caused by discrimination against redheads.

Redheads are a minority hair color in the UK. It is quite common to find a few redheads across every part of the British Isles, but they never become a majority hair color anywhere. 

Although the highest frequency of red hair in Britain and the world is found in Ireland and Scotland, redheads are still only a minority in these places. Only about 10% to 15%of Scottish and Irish people have red hair. When you move outside this region, the percentage drops to about 5%

Many of the redheads you find across the UK are of Celtic origin, but many more either have mixed or non-Celtic heritage. 

There’s no telling the extent to which people in the United Kingdom would react to redheads, even though they are a known minority across the country. 

For some redheads, they’ll face race cases of verbal abuse. Others will face more, and some other redheads have complained of unprovoked attacks by people who hurled the words ‘ginger’ or ‘redhead’ as they punched or pushed them.

Redhead children in the UK have sad tales of bullying, and several suicides and attempted suicides have occurred as a result.  

The hatred for redheads is often hinged on two factors. First, is the fact that naturally occurring redheads are rare. There’s also the historical portrayal of people like Eve, Judas, and others who did bad stuff as people with red hair. 

The 16th-century witch-hunt that saw the persecution of many persons accused of witchcraft also saw many victims with red hair. Many persons continue to uphold the notion that there’s a relationship between modern-day redheads and witchcraft.

As bullying and discrimination against redheads continue across the world, with the UK amongst the leading nations where this hostility exists, several organizations and stakeholders are demanding for Anti-ginger abuse to become a crime.

However, verbal abuse of people with red hair is not a hate crime in the UK, even if many argue that it is partly responsible for suicides amongst children.

Final Comments:

The UK has an interesting variety of hair colors, and this is what you can expect from such a mixed nation.

Over the years, the UK has and continues to welcome visitors, immigrants, and refugees from all around the world.

With people from Asia, Africa, America, and other continents settling in the United Kingdom, it wouldn’t be surprising if the major hair color changes in the coming decades or hundreds of years.