Eye and hair colour distribution among 1144 Portuguese (both sexes studied)

[Damião de Góis]

How old is this study ?

No idea. Maybe the "dutch/portuguese" guy knows. Seems old though.

[PosterMentality22]

I googled it and it seems to be 11601, not 75 thousand.



That's roughly 1% of the population sampled. Any study or survey is interesting to look at, including the one on this thread. What is your "dutch/portuguese" opinion about that?

Oh I stupidly missed the total and added all the columns. I am not Dutch/Portuguse. That is just a random indentity that I had not used before.

This is not just a Portuguese issue. For instance The Blade knows that according Fischer-Scale red hair in Bulgaria red hair was found all below 0,5%, but he still considers in his own unprecedented figures representative.

[Damião de Góis]

Oh I stupidly missed the total and added all the columns. I am not Dutch/Portuguse. That is just a random indentity that I had not used before.

This is not just a Portuguese issue. For instance The Blade knows that according Fischer-Scale red hair in Bulgaria red hair was found all below 0,5%, but he still considers in his own unprecedented figures representative.

Ok fine, i guessed it as much.

[PosterMentality22]

How old is this study ?

It was published in 1936.
https://digitalis.uc.pt/pt-pt/artigo...os_portugueses

[hurtuv]

Thaks for this study Blade, have been loking forward to this for some time.

[Cernunnos]

"The phenotypes I've seen in largest amount among the Portuguese both in my survey and in reality are Atlanto-Mediterranids and Nordo-Mediterranids/Atlantids. There is a good amount of Nordids (Hallstatt, Corded and Keltic types all being present), various kinds of Nordocromagnids (Tronder and so-called Anglo-Saxon) and Upper Paleolithic types (Brunn, Phalian, Borreby). Gracile Mediterranid is less common than its more robust Atlantic cousin, yet not rare."


Sorry, but quite honestly I've barely seen a Portuguese "Nordocromagnid" or "Upper Paleolithic Types" in my life. Gracile Mediterranean is the most common phenotype together with Atlanto-Med not "Nordo-Mediterranids/Atlantids", those can be common but not the most common.

[The Blade]

"The phenotypes I've seen in largest amount among the Portuguese both in my survey and in reality are Atlanto-Mediterranids and Nordo-Mediterranids/Atlantids. There is a good amount of Nordids (Hallstatt, Corded and Keltic types all being present), various kinds of Nordocromagnids (Tronder and so-called Anglo-Saxon) and Upper Paleolithic types (Brunn, Phalian, Borreby). Gracile Mediterranid is less common than its more robust Atlantic cousin, yet not rare."


Sorry, but quite honestly I've barely seen a Portuguese "Nordocromagnid" or "Upper Paleolithic Types" in my life. Gracile Mediterranean is the most common phenotype together with Atlanto-Med not "Nordo-Mediterranids/Atlantids", those can be common but not the most common.

Well, I mentioned Atlanto-Med among the most common, too.
I respect your view of Gracile Med frequency and etc. but to me the Portuguese have more robust features than Spaniards when viewed on a group level, for instance. Slender body frame is one thing (although not rarely the Portuguese show mesomorph tendencies/traits) but facially your people rarely look infantile. Quite the contrary - many have a mature look.

[hurtuv]

"The phenotypes I've seen in largest amount among the Portuguese both in my survey and in reality are Atlanto-Mediterranids and Nordo-Mediterranids/Atlantids. There is a good amount of Nordids (Hallstatt, Corded and Keltic types all being present), various kinds of Nordocromagnids (Tronder and so-called Anglo-Saxon) and Upper Paleolithic types (Brunn, Phalian, Borreby). Gracile Mediterranid is less common than its more robust Atlantic cousin, yet not rare."


Sorry, but quite honestly I've barely seen a Portuguese "Nordocromagnid" or "Upper Paleolithic Types" in my life. Gracile Mediterranean is the most common phenotype together with Atlanto-Med not "Nordo-Mediterranids/Atlantids", those can be common but not the most common.

Uhm, Atlantid is fairly common, not to say Gracile Med is not. I wouldn't say Nordocromagnids are common, but I've seen many examples, both known personally and public figures.

[hurtuv]

While progressing with my study of Estonians, I managed to finish that of the Portuguese.
A few words for those who may not be aware of my criteria:
This is the hair colour scale I use:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fische...93Saller_scale
Colours A to O are what I count as blond.
The numbers V and VI reflect reddish blond hair and affect both blondism and rufosity values. Deeper orange shades I also include as reddish blond.
Other colours my statistics cover:
- light brown
- medium brown (including medium ash brown nuances)
- dark brown (again including some dark ash brown forms)
- black
- reddish brown
- pure red
To estimate the eye colours distribution I use the Martin-Schultz scale. Green eyes with brown spots when green dominates I count as light. Evenly mixed green-brown shades and such where brown dominates I consider hazel and don't count as light.
The Martin-Schultz scale includes:
1-2 : blue iris (1a, 1b, 1c, 2a : light blue iris - 2b : darker blue iris)
3 : blue-gray iris
4 : gray iris (4a, 4b)
5 : blue-gray iris with yellow/brown spots
6 : gray-green iris with yellow/brown spots
7 : green iris
8 : green iris with yellow/brown spots
9-10-11 : light-brown and hazel iris
12-13 : medium brown iris
14-15-16 : dark-brown and black iris
My source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin...3Schultz_scale
Colours 1-8 I consider light. 9 is where non-light eyes begin for me.
An image illustrating the Martin-Schultz scale:

Additional info about my sampling method and criteria
Although I had a good idea about differences between Spanish and Portuguese names and surnames I decided to educate myself more on this matter and found this source pretty useful:
https://www.quora.com/Do-Portuguese-...anish-speakers
My females' study is based on actresses, singers and models. Males' survey is based on models, singers, footballers and cyclists. Here are the links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...uese_actresses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...uese_actresses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Jo%C3%A3o_Bastos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...uese_actresses
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B3nia_Balac%C3%B3
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susana_Mendes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...es_from_Lisbon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...film_actresses
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Santos_(atriz)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...tage_actresses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...sion_actresses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...oice_actresses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...female_singers
http://www.lagence.pt/eng/results.ph...al&type=female
http://www.lagence.pt/results.php?de...cial&type=male
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...e_male_singers
https://www.metal-archives.com/artis...o_Ribeiro/7139
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...al_footballers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego..._male_cyclists
https://www.elitelisbon.com/pt/modelos/nacional/?pg=4
http://www.centralmodels.pt/modelos/homens/
https://www.bestmodelsagency.com/en/...al-models/man/
Note: All female models hail from L’Agence Models - Commercial division. Male models are mostly from it, too, with some representing Elite Lisbon (National division), Central Portugal and Best Models (again the National group). No female models from the latter three were used, as I had already finished my survey of ladies.
Needless to say I excluded all people of partial or full Sub-Saharan African ancestry regardless of their pigmentation. Blacks, mulattos/mulattas, quadroons and octaroons (including some blond and light-eyed ones) can be found in lists posted but neither of them became part of my work. Everyone counted with natural hair colours. The agencies had posted info about/tried to determine some of the models' eye and hair colour. While mostly agreeing with their definitions, I had a slightly different rate in certain cases. Some eyes simply listed as blue, grey or green I treated as light-mixed (blue-green, green-grey or blue-grey). One agency had completely forgotten about the term ''hazel'' listing some eyes that fit this type in my view as ''brown'' or ''green''. I adapted these to my perception. Regarding hair colour I can think of two men dubbed ''blond'' who to me and by the Fischer-Saller scale are clearly brown-haired (there have always been such cases in my surveys). 572 people of each sex were included. Most of them are fully Portuguese with no data of foreign ancestry. Some, however, have partial roots from other states such as England, Germany, The Netherlands, France, Armenia, etc.
I saw several cases of partial heterochromia (blue-brown or grey-brown eyes). As the light colour did not dominate, these fall into the dark-mixed and dark category to me. One man displays complete heterochromia, having one blue eye and one brown eye. His share to the total result was split between blue and brown eyes.
I start with ladies' results:
Eye colour distribution:
Blue – 87 (15,21%)
Blue-green – 2 (0,35%)
Blue-grey – 28 (4,9%)
Grey-green – 43 (7,52%)
Grey – 65 (11,36%)
Green – 86 (15,04%)
Blue-brown – 3 (0,52%)
Grey-brown – 3 (0,52%)
Hazel – 118 (20,63%)
Amber – 5 (0,87%)
Brown – 128 (22,38%)
Black – 4 (0,7%)
Light eyes total: 54,38% (311 women)
Dark/dark-mixed eyes total: 45,62% (261 ladies)
Blue and blue-mixed light eyes rate: 20,46% (117 women)
Grey and grey-mixed light eyes rate: 23,82% (136 women)

Hair colour distribution:
Blonde – 114 (19,93%)
Reddish blonde – 25 (4,37%)
Red – 8 (1,4%)
Reddish brown – 19 (3,32%)
Light brown – 70 (12,24%)
Medium brown – 118 (20,63%)
Medium ash brown – 76 (13,28%)
Dark brown – 68 (11,89%)
Dark ash brown – 58 (10,14%)
Black – 16 (2,8%)
Total blondism value: 24,3% (139 women)
Total rufosity share: 9,09% (52 ladies)
Brown hair total: 71,5% (409 women)
Medium brown shades percentage (including ashy tones): 33,91% (194 women)
Dark brown shades (including ashy nuances): 22,03% (126 females)
Dark hair total (with black included): 24,83% (142 females)

Males' results:
Eye colour distribution:
Blue – 79,5 (13,9%) - the complete heterochromia case
Blue-green – 25 (4,37%)
Blue-grey – 27 (4,72%)
Grey-green – 32 (5,59%)
Grey – 21 (3,67%)
Green – 69 (12,06%)
Blue-brown – 1 (0,18%)
Grey-brown – 2 (0,35%)
Hazel – 140 (24,48%)
Brown – 165,5 (28,93%) - the complete heterochromia case
Black – 10 (1,75%)
Light eyes total: 44,31% (253 men and one with complete heterochromia)
Dark/dark-mixed eyes share: 55,69% (318 men and one with complete heterochromia)
Blue and blue-mixed light eyes value: 22,99% (131 men + the guy with full heterochromia)
Grey and grey-mixed light eyes total: 13,98% (80 men)

Hair colour distribution:
Blond – 28 (4,9%)
Reddish blond – 6 (1,05%)
Red – 5 (0,87%)
Reddish brown – 7 (1,22%)
Light brown – 44 (7,69%)
Medium brown – 80 (13,99%)
Medium ash brown – 72 (12,59%)
Dark brown – 195 (34,09%)
Dark ash brown – 77 (13,46%)
Black – 58 (10,14%)
Total blondism value: 5,95% (34 men)
Total rufosity share: 3,14% (18 men)
Brown hair total: 83,04% (475 men)
Medium brown shades (including ashy tones): 26,58% (152 men)
Dark brown shades (including ashy nuances): 47,55% (272 men)
Dark hair total (with black included): 57,69% (330 men)

Average results based on both sexes:
Eye colour distribution:
Blue – 166,5 (14,55%) - because of complete heterochromia
Blue-green – 27 (2,36%)
Blue-grey – 55 (4,81%)
Grey-green – 75 (6,56%)
Grey – 86 (7,52%)
Green – 155 (13,55%)
Blue-brown – 4 (0,35%)
Grey-brown – 5 (0,44%)
Hazel – 258 (22,55%)
Amber – 5 (0,44%)
Brown – 293,5 (25,65%) – complete heterochromia guy being the reason
Black – 14 (1,22%)
Light eyes total: 49,35% (564 people + one with full heterochromia)
Dark/dark-mixed eyes rate: 50,65% (579 people + one with full heterochromia)
Blue and blue-mixed light eyes share: 21,72% (248 individuals and a man with complete heterochromia)
Grey and grey-mixed light eyes share: 18,89% (216 people)

Hair colour distribution:
Blonde/blond – 142 (12,41%)
Reddish blonde/blond – 31 (2,71%)
Red – 13 (1,14%)
Reddish brown – 26 (2,27%)
Light brown – 114 (9,96%)
Medium brown – 198 (17,31%)
Medium ash brown – 148 (12,94%)
Dark brown – 263 (22,99%)
Dark ash brown – 135 (11,8%)
Black – 74 (6,47%)
Total blondism value: 15,12% (173 individuals)
Rufosity total: 6,12% (70 people)
Brown hair total: 77,27% (884 people)
Medium brown shades (including ashy tones): 30,25% (346 people)
Dark brown shades (including ashy nuances): 34,79% (398 individuals)
Dark hair total (with black included): 41,26% (472 people)

Phenotypical and pigmentation comment
The phenotypes I've seen in largest amount among the Portuguese both in my survey and in reality are Atlanto-Mediterranids and Nordo-Mediterranids/Atlantids. There is a good amount of Nordids (Hallstatt, Corded and Keltic types all being present), various kinds of Nordocromagnids (Tronder and so-called Anglo-Saxon) and Upper Paleolithic types (Brunn, Phalian, Borreby). Gracile Mediterranid is less common than its more robust Atlantic cousin, yet not rare. In my survey it was best displayed by footballers although Atlanto-CM and Berid traits dominated. Some Portuguese show Paleo Atlantid features. While less common than in Spain, a Baskid strain exists. 4 or 5 women with completely Portuguese names showed a blend of East Mediterranid and CM features approaching an Egyptid type. While not common, Dinarids, Dinaro-Meds and Norids can be found. A very small number of people showed Pontid and Dinaro-Pontid traits. One person with a completely Portuguese name displayed some Turanid admix. The Portuguese seem mainly orthocranic, with hypsicranic and chamaecranic individuals being less common. Hair texture is mainly straight followed by wavy and curly. Also, many men with otherwise brown or blond hair have red/reddish beards.
Portuguese of both sexes scored as only slightly darker-eyed than their Southern French counterparts (54,38% vs. 56% among women and 44,31% vs. 46,4% among men). However, France when considered as a whole with the northern parts included scored as 58% light-eyed (based on both sexes), while Portuguese average in my survey is 49,35%.
The Portuguese aren't greatly behind the French in terms of blondism - 15,12% compared to 16,31%.
Portugal is a land of great rufosity and I had noticed this on pics (especially summer ones) posted here, too. With an average of 6,12%, it ''dethrones'' the leader in my surveys England (5,6%). Italian light eyes value of 45,72% is slightly below that of the Atlantic country, while the difference between the two in terms of blondism is more noticeable (Italians scored as 7,73% blond in my study).

Did you notice any regional differences?

[The Blade]

Did you notice any regional differences?

Not all people had their place of birth listed but those who did have it seemed like a pretty homogeneous group. Probably not a great difference in reality.