Gray eyes are anything but what many associate with the color gray, like gloomy skies and
drab and depressing color schemes. There's something rather alluring about them. Even
people blessed with this rare eye color, though, may not know the fascinating story behind
their eyes.
You probably don't know many people who have gray eyes. This is because gray eyes are one
of the rarest eye colors in the world. According to World Atlas, less than one percent of the
global population has gray eyes, making the color incredibly hard to find.
Gray eyes are also pretty isolated. Unless you're of European ancestry, you don't have
much of a chance of inheriting this rare hue. Even among those of European descent, gray
eyes are still far from common and can be found in people who are of northern or eastern
European ancestry.
Gray eyes are often mistaken for blue eyes and have, on occasion, even been lumped in
with blue eyes by science. However, there is a difference. According to the Eye Doctors
of Washington website, gray eyes, unlike blue eyes, often have flecks of gold and brown
in them.
If you look closely, you may even see gray eyes changing color. Depending on what a person
is wearing and what color light they are in, a person's gray eyes may appear gray, blue,
or even green. Their eye color may even appear to change with their mood, as emotions can
change the size of a person's pupils which in turn compresses the colors of the iris,
making eyes temporarily take on a different hue.
"I want you to look me in the eyes. Right here."
While having gray eyes might seem lucky because they're so rare, having gray eyes isn't necessarily
a good thing. There are some risks associated with having eyes of this hue. If you have
gray eyes, you should take special care to protect your eyes from the glare of the sun.
The increased risk of cancer is because of the lack of pigment in the eye. Less pigment
means less protection from the sun, which means people with gray eyes are at a greater
risk for melanoma of the uvea. Having a greater risk of cancer might sound scary, but fortunately
this type of cancer is pretty rare. It affects roughly six in every million adults in the
U.S. annually, so, if you have gray eyes, there's no need to worry too much as long
as you're taking precautions.
Over the years, people have come up with a lot of strange beliefs about what gray eyes
mean. According to the Encyclopedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World,
men with gray eyes are the most faithful, but gray eyes also indicate a person, quote,
"of weak intellect, devoid of wit" and "a plain, plodding, downright drudge." Yikes.
Men with gray eyes might be more faithful than men with eyes of other colors, but the
eye color apparently isn't an indicator of a pleasant personality in women. According
to Superstitions: 10,000 You Really Need, gray-eyed women are instead supposedly greedy.
One of the most powerful of the ancient Greek gods was Athena. Athena was the daughter of
Zeus, the king of the gods. She was revered as the goddess of war and peace, and was also
the goddess of arts and crafts. The goddess is probably best remembered, though, as the
goddess of wisdom. And she just so happened to have gray eyes.
The ancient Greeks viewed gray eyes as a symbol of wisdom, although it's not clear whether
it's because the goddess of wisdom had gray eyes or if Athena was described as having
gray eyes because the association between gray eyes and wisdom already existed.
Not all of the beliefs surrounding people with gray eyes are superstitious. In 1918,
the Sausalito News came out stating that gray-eyed people are better marksmen. The theory wasn't
just a shot in the dark, either, but was formed after observing soldiers at Camp Bowie, a
military training camp.
Applied Colloid Chemistry: General Theory, a science text originally published in 1926,
also posits the theory that blue-eyed and gray-eyed people are better shots with a rifle.
It cited a study that seemed to corroborate the theory, but also added that two thirds
of 100,000 white soldiers have blue or gray eyes, which might mean that it's an issue
of sample size.
Regardless of whether it's based in fact or fiction, the theory can also be found in the
literature of the time. Ambrose Bierce's short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,
published in 1890, alludes to the belief. Bierce wrote,
"He observed that it was a grey eye and remembered having read that grey eyes were keenest, and
that all famous marksmen had them."
If you've got some gray-eyed friends, you definitely want them on your team at your
next game night. It turns out that people with gray eyes have a distinct advantage when
it comes to competitions. Studies show that people with gray eyes are more competitive,
making them prime teammates. The study, published by Current Psychology, found that people with
lighter-colored eyes have a tendency to not just be more competitive, but to also be more
skeptical and egocentric.
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