Auburn Hair

Auburn Hair

Auburn may be described as hair that is of a reddish-brown color. The word "auburn" comes from the Old French word alborne, which meant blond, coming from Latin word alburnus ("off-white"). The first recorded use of auburn in English was in 1430. The word was sometimes corrupted into abram, for example in early (pre-1685) folios of Coriolanus, Thomas Kyd's Soliman and Perseda (1588) and Thomas Middleton's Blurt, Master Constable (1601).

The chemical pigments that cause the coloration of auburn hair are frequently pheomelanin with high levels of brown eumelanin. Auburn hair is reasonably common among people of northern and western European descent, but it is rare elsewhere.