What eye color will the baby have if both parents have brown eyes?
If both parents have brown eyes, the simple two-gene model behind our calculator gives the baby the rough chances below. It is a teaching model, not a prediction: real eye color depends on many genes.
Rough chance for the baby
A simple teaching model, not a prediction. Real eye color depends on many genes.
Why these chances
Brown masks the other colors, so two brown-eyed parents usually have a brown-eyed baby. But each of them can carry a hidden copy for a lighter color. If both pass that hidden copy on, the baby can have green or blue eyes, which is how brown-eyed parents end up with a light-eyed child.
What the grandparents change
Grandparents matter a lot here. If each parent has a blue-eyed mother or father, both parents must carry a hidden lighter copy, and the model's chance of a blue-eyed baby rises from about 3% to 14%.
Add grandparents in the calculator
What the model leaves out
The model uses only two genes and treats every version of a gene as equally common. In reality eye color depends on many genes, how common each version is differs from country to country, and hazel, grey and mixed colors don't fit neatly into three groups. Use the numbers to see how a hidden color can pass down, not to predict your baby.
Other parent combinations
- Brown × Brown
- Brown × Green or hazel
- Brown × Blue or grey
- Green or hazel × Green or hazel
- Green or hazel × Blue or grey
- Blue or grey × Blue or grey
Frequently asked questions
What eye color will the baby have if both parents have brown eyes?
In the simple model, roughly 89% brown, 8% green or hazel and 3% blue. Real families vary, because eye color depends on many genes.
Can two brown-eyed parents have a blue-eyed baby?
Yes. Each parent can carry a hidden copy for a lighter color. The simple model gives about 3% for blue, and more if blue eyes run in either family.
When will we know the baby's eye color?
Usually within the first year or two. Many babies are born with lighter eyes that darken as melanin builds up in the iris, and most children have their lasting eye color by about age six.