Brown hair is the second most common human hair color.
200px|thumb|right|Actress Jennifer Connelly with dark brown hair
Brown hair (also referred to as chestnut and cinnamon) varies from light brown to almost black hair. It is characterized by higher levels of the dark pigment eumelanin and lower levels of the pale pigment phaeomelanin. Its strands are thicker than those of fair hair but not as much as those of red hair. People with brown hair are often referred to as brunettes, the feminine form, and brunets, the masculine term. Brown hair is common among Indo-Europeans and West Eurasians, especially those Central and Southern Europe, West Asia, and North Africa, where it transitions smoothly into blackish-brown and black hair.

Etymology and grammar

Brunette literally means “little brown-haired girl", but in modern English usage it has lost the diminutive meaning and refers simply to any brown-haired girl or woman, or the associated hair color. Although brunet is the masculine version of the term, used to describe a boy or man with brown hair, the use of brunet is uncommon in English. One is more likely to say, of a man or boy, "He has brown hair," than to say, "He is a brunette," (or brunet).

Lighter or darker shades of brown hair may be referred to as "light brunette" or "dark brunette," though in such cases one is generally referring only to the hair color, not using the term as a metaphor for the person; one would be unlikely to say, "She is a light brunette." Rather, one would say, "She has light brunette hair."

The term brunette originates from the feminine form of the French brunet, which is a diminutive of "brun," meaning brown. Brun is derived from the Germanic "bhru-no." The Indo-European root phoneme is "bher."

Biochemistry

The pigment Eumelanin (literally meaning “good” melanin) gives brown hair its distinctive color. Brown hair has more eumelanin than blond hair but also has much less than black. There are two different types of eumelanin, which are distinguished from each other by their pattern of polymer bonds. The two types are black eumelanin and brown eumelanin. Black eumelanin is the darkest, brown eumelanin is lighter than black. Black eumelanin is mostly present in non-Europeans and aged Europeans, while brown eumelanin is mostly present in young Europeans, and people of other ethnicities. A small amount of black eumelanin in the absence of other pigments causes grey hair. A small amount of brown eumelanin in the absence of other pigments causes yellow (blond) color hair. Brown-haired people have medium-thick strands of hair.

Brown haired people are thought to produce more skin-protecting eumelanin and are associated with having a more even skin tone. The range of skin colors associated with brown hair is vast, ranging from the palest of skin tone to an olive complexion. Brunettes can have dark or light eyes. Occasionally, natural blonde or red hair will darken over time, resulting in a brown-haired individual with light colored eyes.

Varieties of brunette-brunet

Brown hair comes in a variety of shades from the very darkest of brown (almost black) to light brown showing small signs of blondism. Shades of brown hair include:

• Deepest brunette - The darkest brown, appears to be off black at a distance.

• Dark brown

• Milk chocolate brown

• Chestnut brown - Dark brown with a visible wine auburn highlight.

• Light chestnut brown - Medium to dark brown with very subtle chestnut tones.

• Medium brown

• Medium (golden) brown

• Light golden brown

• Light auburn brown

• Light golden reddish brown - A warm light brown with red tones.

• Light ash brown

• Lightest brown

Culture

Modern fiction

Anita Loos, the author of the novel and play Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, wrote a sequel entitled But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes. The Studio dropped the first word from the title to film Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, starring Jane Russell and Jeanne Crain.

See also

• Human skin color

• Melanin

• Pigment

• Skin

• Moreno

• Orange

• Black hair