How hereditary is hair?

[Newniepg]

I have very similar hair to my Mum, same colour and similar texture but the I inherited the frizzies from my Dad.

Until recently, my Mum has had quite short hair and so I haven't ever seen it up. I noticed when she visited today that she has a freak streak of blonde at the nape, in exactly the same place, at the same angle as I do. The rest of our hair is very dark.

Its not very clear in this photo, but you get the idea.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=1032&pictureid=40654

I found this extremely strange, I don't know why, I mean we have moles in the same places so why not strands of hair colour?

Can anyone explain (in VERY simple science terms) why this might be? Has anyone noticed anything similar with their close relatives hair?
:confused:

Any thoughts? Is it just co-incidence? :rolleyes:

[spidermom]

I haven't seen anybody else on the family tree with hair like mine, but it makes sense that the genes for hair come along with those for eye color and everything else. My hair color must be a combination of recessive genes that haven't manifested in quite some time..

[curlylocks85]

I do not have any scientific answers for you, but we do inherit many of our characteristics from our parents so the color on your nape could just be your mom’s genes shining through.

I like your streak it is unique and pretty. :)

[Twil]

Something similar, everyone told me how much I looked like my mamaw. I even have a photo of her in her 20's (A black and white professional head shot) and everyone keeps asking me where I took the photo.

Well one time, I was talking to my mamaw, and noticed that she had one, long, wiry, gray hair growing out of her earlobe. Not her ear, not by her ear, but out of her earlobe just one. I didn't mention it to her, but was so glad I didn't have one. Well,. about a month later guess what I found? One, long, curly brown hair GROWING OUT OF MY EARLOBE. It made me scream when I saw it! I've been cutting it off for the past two years now, I haven't told anyone about it
WHY GENETICS WHY

[spidermom]

Sorry Twil, but I had to laugh. You can laugh now - I have coarse, dark hairs growing on the top of my big toe below my toenail on each side. I tweeze them out. OUCH! My father doesn't have them, and my mother is dead, so I can't ask her. My daughter and son have them, too. They scowl at me, but hey - I got them from somebody else.

[bumblebums]

Well, I recall reading somewhere that a gray patch at the top of the hairline is a dominant genetic trait. Think "inverse Jay Leno" hair. Not quite the same, but similar.

For me, hair around the hairline is blonder than elsewhere on my scalp. It's because it is more fine than the hair further in, and I think it reflects light differently or else fades easier. I've seen this occasionally in people of my ethnicity.

[catysue]

My entire family has dark, almost black hair. I am naturally blonde.

They also all have dark skin and I think I make Casper feel like he has a tan :p

[spidermom]

My entire family has dark, almost black hair. I am naturally blonde.

They also all have dark skin and I think I make Casper feel like he has a tan :p

ah-ha; another recessive!

[young&reckless]

My hair color is getting blonder and more red as I age in reverse to my mom who started blond and became more brunette then grey.

One parent has hazel eyes, one brown and mine are grey, so I'm just a messed up mutt I guess.

[violeteyes]

I got more of a mix from both parents I think; my dad has really dark, almost black hair and my mom started out so blond that her hair was white as a kid, but it slowly became dishwater blond. I have a meduim or dark brown.

[Twil]

My entire family has dark, almost black hair. I am naturally blonde.

They also all have dark skin and I think I make Casper feel like he has a tan :p
I got the recessive pale gene too! My dad is black, but judging by your avvie, I could possible take you in a pale-off.
I've met a few biracials who were also white skin tone dominant, it's always a high-five moment.

[Twil]

Sorry Twil, but I had to laugh. You can laugh now - I have coarse, dark hairs growing on the top of my big toe below my toenail on each side. I tweeze them out. OUCH! My father doesn't have them, and my mother is dead, so I can't ask her. My daughter and son have them, too. They scowl at me, but hey - I got them from somebody else.
I'm glad I'm not the only one with 'HOW DOES HAIR EVEN GROW THERE?!?!?!?!' strands:D

[Harriet]

I have the blonde streak on the nape of my neck too! It adds interest to braids and it can looks like i've got highlights.
Like everything about us, hair characteristics come from the genes we inherit from out parents, so if your Mother gave you the gene for light hair at the nape of the neck and it's a dominant gene then that's why you have it too, or if it's recessive you inherited a copy of this gene from both parents (your Father may be a carrier for this gene but not express it) then you would express it also.

I'm a good example of a recessive gene, neither of my parents have red hair, but my Great-Great-Grandmother, her son (my Great-Grandfather) and his son (my Great-Uncle) all had red hair. So red hair is expressed in each generation except my mothers.
I like recessive genes, because you can never be sure when they're going to come out of hiding!

[Lamb]

I am a mix of my two grandmothers. :silly: Which is why my features and coloring are so irregular - I've got one granny's brown, wurly hair and blueish grey eyes, and the marked eyebrows, cafe-au-lait complexion, and deep eye sockets of the other. I don't fit any type, and there is no consistency in my mug.

Now as to the hair - I think it is largely inherited, but sometimes we don't notice how much of our haircare routines we have inherited, too. For example, my mother and sister have slippery, fine, straight hair, perhaps 1c or so. They have always gotten by without conditioner, and using a fine-toothed comb. My mom hasn't had her hair longer than earlobes for at least 25 years.

This was my pre-LHC routine, too - this is what I inherited from my mom. Now I know that my hair has some undiscovered potential besides the tendency to look like an unkempt poodle. :rolleyes:

[Olafwa]

My mother had black hair. I heard that's a pretty strong gene, which is probably why all us kids have dark brown hair. My dad's is a light brown. Brown isn't too far from black, so I guess it didn't clash too much. He has really curly hair too, so we all have a kink though mine is so small you can barely notice it. We all seemed to gain thickness, but none of our hair is as thick or has as much volume as my mother. My father is the complete opposite, very thin hair, though a good volume. - My friend has a red beard which baffles him as his hair is brown, his mother's is blond and his father's is dark brown. Recessive genes make us unique! ;)

[Katurday]

I am what you call a blender, I just blended away a bunch of genes in my family.
My father has an olive skintone. My mother is more light and peachy.
Me? I am somewhere in the middle, a yellow pale peachy olive.
(Make seasonal typing impossible)
Both my parents have natural jet black hair, but I inherited my father's thickness and my mother's coarseness and straightness.
As for color, I have naturally light brown hair. My sister got the black, my brother got the regular brown.

[Cinnamon Hair]

I don't have any genetic explanation but wanted to say I have the same freaky blond streak thing going on! Mine is at the nape too, a little left of center and that hair is extra baby fine which means lots of tangles there.

I also have the same hair color and texture as my mother and the majority of her family.

[tralalalara]

- My friend has a red beard which baffles him as his hair is brown, his mother's is blond and his father's is dark brown. Recessive genes make us unique! ;)
My brother has a red beard too! But his hair is a very very light blonde. I've been told that he was born a redhead, but then it all fell out and grew out the white-blonde that it is today.
Maybe it has to do with crossing a blonde mother with a brunette father, as mine are the same, but all of us kids are different shades of blonde.

[Tovah]

Hmmmm......my dad's mom and dad were both redheads as were most of his siblings. He had black curly hair with 'redhead freckles' all over and he had brown eyes. My mom's dad had straight brown hair and honestly I don't know what color my mom's mom's hair was as any photo I have seen of her, her hair was white and that's how I remember her. I actually never thought of that. I'll have to ask my older sister. My mom's hair was honey colored and wavy. She had hazel eyes. My hair is brown (natural color) with red highlights and curly. I have one green eye and one half-brown eye.

What I'm trying to figure out now is how I will go silver. My dad still had some dark hair into his 70's and my mom's hair was white. I'm letting my auburn color grow out and it appears that I have a white streak in front with dark hair in back with a few silvers running through. So unfortunately, I probably take after my father more.

[Blackfay]

I'm the recessive oddball in my family, but I was talking to my mom and my sister and we realized all three of us, as well as my other sister, have the same exact cowlick on the right corner of our hairlines. I thought that was pretty interesting!

[xoxophelia]

I got the recessive pale gene too! My dad is black, but judging by your avvie, I could possible take you in a pale-off.
I've met a few biracials who were also white skin tone dominant, it's always a high-five moment.

Same here.. everybody on my dad's side and 2 of my siblings have dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, olive toned skin. My natural hair color is dark blonde/light brown, I have blue eyes, currently white skin (but I tan like no other if I am not careful). I'm nearly 20% native american.

One thing I noticed about hair and genetics is that my youngest sister and I both have what I call the mark of the devil. If I pull my hair straight back I get two curls on the side of my head that poke up like devil horns. -_-... ... .. My sister has them as well. I always figured we got them from my mom, a curly head. Turns out though, my DAD was the one who had them. They just left when his hairline went back on the sides.

[Newniepg]

Some interesting responses, what I hadn't thought of is that if most relatives alter their hair by dying it or keeping it very short then we probably wouldn't know if it is the same as ours. My big brother might have identical hair to me if it was longer but I suppose we shall never know.

I find it interesting to look at my daughters hair line (there is very little hair there!) and see it is exactly the same as her fathers and grand-fathers.

All very interesting.

[akilina]

It's kind of interesting to me. Both my parents have dark brown hair. But when my grandma on my dads side was young she had very light blond hair. Now shes a reddish color. Not really even gray at all. My brother and I both have the same color of (naturally) super light ash blond hair. He used to have hair down to his TB and ive seen pictures. It's like the sun makes it so perfect. like hair people pay hundreds of dollars for. I'm sure mine would do the same if i would just stop dying it. I haven't seen my own in 5 years at least. We'll see this summer. :) I wish my hair would grow as fast as my moms does though.

[Newniepg]

I wish my hair would grow as fast as my moms does though.

I can identify with this wish! My Mum 'complains' that her hair grows like a weed and that it just gets too long too fast. This aspect of her hair I know I didn't inherit, unfortunately. :)

Why can't we choose which bits to inherit from our families? :rolleyes:

[Nae]

Well, here is to hoping any hair genes I get, I get from my mom's side. Cuz the grandma on the other side is, no kidding, bald. :scared:She has a few whispies here and there but my cousins and I are seriously scared about the prospects. On the positive side my aunts still seem to have hair so hopefully I will have it till like my 50s at least, worst case scenario.

Grandma on the other side has a full head of beautiful white hair and she is in her 80s. But I suppose if i have to Rogaine for the last 20 years of my life the price wouldn't be too high to keep my hair.

Darn genetics!

[vamq]

My mother always had dark hair, almost black, stick straigth and fine.
My father had blonde hair as a kid, but it got darker after he was a 10 or so. He has really thick, coarse stick straight hair.
My younger sister has dishwater blonde (I don't like that name..) straight-ish fine hair (I would say 1b/1c/ii) that is turning darker and darker. It's almost brown now.
My older sister has the same dark hair as my mum, but really coarse and thick, and she has slight waves (1c/2a)
I, on the other hand, have naturally golden blonde hair with some reddish tones (I did some colorless henna, but it does color, so now it's all reddish:D), quite thick, and also on the wavier side.

I really don't understand how I can be blonde, when the rest of my family has dark hair. It's also a miracle how my sister and I got those waves..:confused:

[Madame J]

Why can't we choose which bits to inherit from our families? :rolleyes:

Yeah, I have my dad's cool logic, high forehead, and eyebrows. Or rather, eyebrow. Luckily I get my hair from my mom -- it's exactly the same color as her pre-grey color. In fact, when I screwed up my color really badly with boxed dye as a teenager, I just went to her hairdresser. She had me done in just over a half an hour because she already had the color ready to mix, since it was the same color she puts on my mom. She even French braided my damp hair instead of blowing it dry.

[Angela_Rose]

As far as hair goes, I got a great mix from both sides. Mom & Dad both had thick, coarse hair... or at least Dad did before the chemo changed it. Anyway! Mom's a dark redhead and Dad's was just this side of black, and rather curly. I got Mom's thickness and waves plus some red highlights to even up the color and the coarseness from Dad.
I also got *one* of my Mom's eyes.

[Angela_Rose]

As far as hair goes, I got a great mix from both sides. Mom & Dad both had thick, coarse hair... or at least Dad did before the chemo changed it. Anyway! Mom's a dark and Dad's was just this side of black, and rather curly. I got Mom's thickness and waves plus some red highlights to even up the color and the coarseness from Dad.
I also got *one* of my Mom's eyes.

To clarify, since it reads like Dad's , he survived the chemo and its cause, the acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Yay! :cheese: It's just that once hair comes back after chemo, it is often very different than it originally was.

[squee]

:)

I too am one of those gene blenders.
My mom is full blooded Italian, my dad is half German and half super mutt(it would be easier to say where we didn't get genes(I think just Asian blood we lack...)).
I do look mostly like my mother. I have her color...but none of her super curliness.
My father's family all have straight hair, while I ended up with wavy/straight.
I am unsure about my mom's real thickness, my fathers is all uniform(along with the rest of his family). While mine has fine, med. and thick. I also have reds/yellows in my hair along with many shades of brown/black.
I have my mom's skin, tans nicely and rarely burns super thick and soft, I did get my dad's acne sadly(his skin is thinner and weaker). And hair growth...I am sure I have hers from what I hear, faster rate everywhere with minimal shedding(dad is slow, his family sheds more then I do).

Not sure about terminal length....I am not in contact with my mom for her side and father's side...no one has bothered to grow their hair out.

Something quite neat!
One of my cousins(he wants long hair!)....his hair has a ton of different shades in it. His mother (dad's sister), had some hair person count it and if I remember right it was close to 50 at least. That is what you get for being a mutt I guess. :)
I think his father was also a full mutt..of mutts..don't remember if he was a super mutt though.

[Bellalalala]

I'm not exactly sure what kind of genetic explanation you're looking for.

Yes, hair is almost entirely determined by genetics, but not in the way that most people explain genetics. People think of a simple gene or set of genes, when there are actually a number of genes that contribute to hair, and all interact with each other.

So, even though you get your hair from your parents, how those genes combine can do all sorts of crazy combos.

Overall, among all those genes, if dark or curly genes are present, they are very likely to be expressed in the child's hair, but it's not a guarantee.

Overall, the genes determine what colour, and how much of it to deposit. If you and your mother have the same streak, it's likely that there is something causing a defect in the colour-depositing process of a chunk of hair follicles.

Why??? Who knows, but it's definitely genetic.

However, it may have nothing to do with hair genes!!!

Y'know, in case it wasn't confusing enough!

It could have to do with the nerves in that area, the intra-cellular signals, the ability of the follicle cells from gathering the chemicals it needs to build hair-colour particles, etc, etc, etc.

Loooong story short:
yes it's genetic, but I've only just started my medical training, so I don't know if it's even possible to figure out the genetic explanation.

I'm sure that didn't help at all, but it's the best I can do :p

[Bekah]

Some interesting responses, what I hadn't thought of is that if most relatives alter their hair by dying it or keeping it very short then we probably wouldn't know if it is the same as ours. My big brother might have identical hair to me if it was longer but I suppose we shall never know.

I find it interesting to look at my daughters hair line (there is very little hair there!) and see it is exactly the same as her fathers and grand-fathers.

All very interesting.

I actually found it interesting when my mom, sister and I all went natural hair color at the same time for the first time in our lives. Mom took little breaks when we were adults (she dyed straight through our childhood) but by that point either I or my sister had color on... until Christmas 08.

Our natural color is identical. (And mom hasn't gotten any grey by 50something so I've got years of this color to look forward to) We've all got f/ii 1a hair that barely curls. We even part it in the exact same spot. The only difference is that my sister cuts hers short, mom keeps hers at shoulder length, and mine is quite long.

It's not the prettiest color in the world- a very muddy dark blonde/light brown with auburn highlights but it plays well with my pale complexion. They prefer to dye it darker to auburn (mom) or lighter to a true blonde (my sister).

[Syaoransbear]

My dad's hair is pure black, and my mom's hair is dark brown/red. Mine's blonde!

[JamieLeigh]

I'm a mutt too, lol. My mom's hair is really fine, pin-straight and thin like my grandmothers was, and my dad's is thick and coarse and curly. Mine is medium and wavy naturally. My hair color is a dark brown between my parents' color...and my mother has blue eyes, whereas my father has dark brown almost black eyes. My eyes are hazel green, and my brother's are hazel blue. There are no relatives on either side who I see specific traits from, so I guess I've taken my parents' averages, appearance-wise, and here I am. :p

[xoxophelia]

I dunno.. my mom has curly hair and was born blonde it got darker but I have never seen it not colored. It also looks dry as anything :S.... My dad's hair is black and shiny and he says it is a little wavy when long. I think his hairs used to be thicker but now they are more F on the top of his head.

[LadyJennifer]

That's funny, because I have a streak of silver right behind my ear. I found it at 18 and thought I was going gray. Come to find out, many of the women in my mom's family have a streak of silver in their hair too. I never noticed mine, because my hair was so much lighter as a child.

[Shorty89]

My mom's hair is really dark brown with silvers and my dad has no hair :lol: I think his hair was wavy and brown though. My hair is a brownish colour and wavy so I'd guess I get it from my dad.

[Sammich]

I actually have no idea, I best just get to reading this thread but I'm just gonna add about my genes:
My mother has black coarse medium/thck hair... my father was born with platnium fine thin/medium blonde hair and he had it until he was about 10 and it was a mousy brown... and he still has a mousy brown fine thin/medium hair, maybe a tiny bit darker though and some grey hair. :)
I have no idea what my FULL natural is but judging by my roots and my hair in 2007 when my roots were about the tip of my ears it was dark brown... very black looking in some lighting and in the sun a dark mousyish brown.

[LadyJennifer]

My brother has a red beard too! But his hair is a very very light blonde. I've been told that he was born a redhead, but then it all fell out and grew out the white-blonde that it is today.
Maybe it has to do with crossing a blonde mother with a brunette father, as mine are the same, but all of us kids are different shades of blonde.

my husband's hair is dark, dark brown, but his beard is mostly bright red! red runs in his dad's family. it always interesting to see where the traits show up:)

[LadyJennifer]

Sorry Twil, but I had to laugh. You can laugh now - I have coarse, dark hairs growing on the top of my big toe below my toenail on each side. I tweeze them out. OUCH! My father doesn't have them, and my mother is dead, so I can't ask her. My daughter and son have them, too. They scowl at me, but hey - I got them from somebody else.

So do I, lol. My mom's family is cajun and super hairy. I just wish I got her dark almost-black color hair rather than her hairy toes! haha!

[Tangles]

My dad has curly, thick and coarse hair that is now salt and pepper colored. My mom has fine strawberry blonde hair with 30% grey. Both my grandmothers had around hip length, thick, black hair most of their lives. Mine's medium textured and a medium brown. Very "averaged-out" hair.

ETA: Stubborn cowlicks run on my mom's side of the family, and I have a particularly bad one on the right side of my hairline.

[vamq]

My brother has a red beard too! But his hair is a very very light blonde. I've been told that he was born a redhead, but then it all fell out and grew out the white-blonde that it is today.
Maybe it has to do with crossing a blonde mother with a brunette father, as mine are the same, but all of us kids are different shades of blonde.


My BF had blonde hair, and when he lets his beard grow, it's red too! And his sideburns are black. No one in his family has naturally red or dark hair. They're all blonde, some almost white.

I've seen the blonde hair/red beard thing several times now (I work in a supermarket, so I see a lot of people, heh:P) I guess it's quite common for blonde guys to have a red beard. It's really weird in some way, but I think it looks cool...

[ChrissieM]

My husband has dark brown hair, almost black. His beard, if he'd ever let it grow, would be about 25% flaming red, and the rest dark brown. I've glimpsed it a few times when he'd let stubble grow.

[Friesiangirl]

Me and my father are hair twinsies! Except, his hair was a shade or two darker. Same wave (and weird curlies sometimes), growth rate, oiliness, thickness etc. He has amazing hair, even when he takes crappy care of it.

I'm thankful in a way, because my mother and aunts and nana all have a receding hairline... and if the odds are with me, I won't get that.

[Tovah]

My youngest son has dark brown hair and a red beard. I thought it was a bit of the redhead genetics coming out in one of my children. How did I come from a family that has redheads on both sides and end up with mousey brown hair? Not fair!

[treesandcoffee]

These are all interesting!

My mother is Mexican and my father is Irish American. The Mexican side is rather dominating. I have olive skin that tans like crazy, black curly hair, wide hips and full lips. All my cousins on my dad's side have blonde and red hair and pale skin. The only thing I seem to have carried from that side are freckles on my nose and cheekbones.

I consider myself to be ethically ambiguous. I've been mistaken for Puerto Rican, Cuban, Colombian (and other S. American), Greek, Italian, Lebanese, Romanian, Egyptian, and even Japanese. It's fun, and I imagine it will be incredibly easy for me to travel just about anywhere.

[Fayjoi]

I only have the haircolor from my mum, I did go from light blonde to dark blonde in my late thirties and now the greys are coming. Both my parents have straight hair, so i guess I have the waves from my grandmother. My sister has very dark coarse hair, with a few waves in it.

[Fractalsofhair]

I'm the only blond as far back as we can trace it in my family.(Which is to say, 1700s or so.) I'm also pasty and gray eyed, but that does run in my family a bit. Most people in my family have jet black hair, that is either very coarse or very fine. I got the very fine, though it is switching to the former(in color and texture! ACK! XD). Both types seem to like protein per the rest of my family.

[Rhiannon7]

My mother had very dark red hair, almost brown, curly and had alot of freckles. don't know my dad, never met him. my grandparents had dark curly hair, grandpa black curly, grandma dark brown and curly. and they had children of all colored hair and texture, all from curly to stick straight, pale blonde to black. both my grandparents had blue eyes. but my mom had hazel eyes. i have a couple of uncles with brown eyes, i am the only one of her children who has red hair, and somewhat straight, with hazel-gray eyes and few freckles. both half sisters and half brother have pale blonde wavy hair. so i am guessing i got the straighter hair either from a recessive gene or from my dad. lack the amount of freckles my mom had also from a recessive gene or dad and my skin is very pale, plus got to have a double red hair gene to have red hair. one from dad, 1 from mom.
and yes it is very weird how genes work, specially in my extended family (cousins ) there's everything from blue eyed blondes to brown eyed black haired but most of them have curly hair. so where is my curly hair gene?