A redhead is a person with naturally red hair. The color can range from bright copper to deep auburn to strawberry blonde, but all these shades come from the same rare genetic trait. Only about 1-2% of people worldwide are natural redheads, making red hair the rarest hair color.

Red hair occurs when someone inherits a specific gene variation from both parents. This same genetic trait can come with fair skin and freckles, though not always. Many redheads are of Irish, Scottish, or Northern European ancestry, where the gene is most common, but redheads can be born into families of any background.

Throughout history, redheads have attracted attention simply because they're unusual. In some times and places, people celebrated red hair as striking and beautiful. In others, they made unfair assumptions about redheaded people's personalities or treated them poorly just for looking different. Today, most people recognize that hair color has nothing to do with someone's character, talents, or temperament.

Famous redheads include Queen Elizabeth I of England, Anne of Green Gables (the beloved fictional character), and scientist Marie Curie. The word can be used affectionately or simply as a description: “My cousin is a redhead” or “There are three redheads in my class this year.”