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There are blonde, brunette and redhead. What's the name for people with black hair?

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4  
There may not be a noun for those with black hair, but there are certainly adjectives: raven-haired, or someone with jet-black hair, if it is very dark. – aedia λ Jul 13 '11 at 0:13

4 Answers

up vote 25 down vote accepted

Although there is some debate over this, the Oxford Dictionary definition of brunette is:

noun: a woman or girl with dark brown hair.

This source also mentions that in the US, an alternate form of the word brunette is brunet. The Merriam-Webster definition of brunet is:

a person having brown or black hair and often a relatively dark complexion —spelled brunet when used of a boy or man and usually brunette when used of a girl or woman

Thus, brunette includes the range of hair colors from brown to black. There is no specific and separate term for someone with black hair. However, people have suggested the term noirette. Note, also, that although the term brunette includes those with black hair, not everyone may agree. Therefore, this is the official term for people with black hair but not necessarily the one used in everyday life.

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Even redhead isn't really on a par with the other two. Everyone is either fair-haired (blonde), or dark-haired (every other shade, including red and black). – FumbleFingers Jul 13 '11 at 0:52
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@Fublefingers - are you persecuting the gingers by refusing to recognise them? :-) – Rory Alsop Jul 13 '11 at 1:05
Wouldn't he actually be persecuting everyone, since only the blondes have a category all their own? – simchona♦ Jul 13 '11 at 1:07
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no, "sacre bleu" is a french expression. In french you could use "noiraud" and "noiraude" for someone who has black hair ( or black skin ). But nowadays it is mostly used to name black cows (really). Noiret/ette might have existed though, it's true. – Nikko Jul 13 '11 at 13:36
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"Redhead" is an undoubtedly English-derived term, where "blonde", "brunette" and (ostensibly) "noirette" are French. How about another butchery of the language of love: "rougette"? You could also use the gentler-sounding term "blanquette" for someone with gray/white hair. – KeithS Jul 13 '11 at 16:15
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up vote -7 down vote

There is a noun for black-haired people. It is blaché pronounced "blah-shay". It is going to be added into the new edition of the Webster dictionary.

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Darn, I wish people would indicate why they vote something down... Call me thick, but it's not always obvious. To me, anyway. – mickeyf Oct 25 '11 at 1:21
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Though I was not the first downvote, I can say I voted this down because I thought it was not useful. I cannot find evidence for blaché used in English as a noun to describe those with black hair, as a parallel to a redhead. Blache appears to be a last name that may have been associated with the color black, but this doesn't really answer the question. – aedia λ Oct 30 '11 at 22:34
This really doesn't provide anything meaningful. I confirmed what @aediaλ mentioned. – Feral Oink Nov 18 '11 at 18:33
up vote 14 down vote

"Raven haired" is an older term that still seems to be understood by most.

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"Raven haired" certainly means "black haired", but I've seen it used only in novels, and only of people the author intends the readers to perceive as sexually attractive. It may really be an old term, but for some reason I think of it as modern but intended to sound old. I think its natural home is in a fantasy novel. It would look a little out of place anywhere else. – TRiG Jul 25 '11 at 20:57
up vote 7 down vote

A person who has black hair is generally called "black-haired".

Most people will understand.

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protected by Mitch Sep 24 '12 at 20:04

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