When my daughter was born, her eyes looked almost colorless—a murky grey-blue that seemed to shift depending on the light. My mother-in-law kept insisting they were blue. My mom said they looked grey. The nurses just smiled and said "we'll see."
Turns out, that grey color most newborns have isn't really a color at all. It's what happens when there's barely any pigment in the eye yet. The grey is a placeholder, a "color loading" screen while your baby's genetics figure out what they're actually doing.
Why Newborns Have Grey Eyes
Babies spend nine months in total darkness. That womb environment doesn't trigger melanin production the way light does. Melanin is the pigment that gives color to eyes, skin, and hair. Without light exposure, the melanin-producing cells in a baby's iris stay mostly inactive.
At birth, most babies of European descent have very little melanin in their irises. The iris structure is there, but it's essentially unpigmented or minimally pigmented. When light hits an iris with minimal melanin, it scatters. The result looks grey or blue-grey to our eyes.
It's not that babies are born with grey pigment in their eyes. They're born with almost no pigment at all, and grey is what we perceive when we look at an unpigmented or barely pigmented iris.
Quick science: The grey color is caused by light scattering through the iris structure, similar to how light scatters in the sky. There's no actual grey pigment. The iris appears grey because that's how our eyes interpret scattered light hitting a low-melanin iris.
The Melanin Connection
Melanin production in the iris is triggered by light exposure. Once a baby is born and their eyes are exposed to light, the melanocytes (melanin-producing cells) start working. This process doesn't happen overnight. It takes weeks to months for melanin to build up to genetically determined levels.
The amount of melanin that eventually develops depends entirely on genetics. If your baby inherited genes for high melanin production, their eyes will darken to brown. If they inherited genes for low melanin, the eyes might stay blue. Intermediate levels result in green or hazel.
Why Melanin Takes Time to Develop
The melanocytes need to mature and start functioning at full capacity. At birth, they're present but not fully active. As the baby is exposed to light over weeks and months, these cells ramp up melanin production gradually.
Think of it like turning up a dimmer switch slowly rather than flipping a light switch. The melanin doesn't appear all at once—it accumulates over time as the cells produce and deposit more pigment into the iris.
When Grey Eyes Change Color
Most babies start showing eye color changes between 3 and 6 months old. That initial grey or grey-blue color typically begins shifting during this window.
If the eyes are going to be brown, you'll usually notice a golden or amber ring appearing around the pupil first. This gradually spreads outward as more melanin accumulates. By 9 months to a year, brown eyes are usually pretty obviously brown, though they might continue deepening slightly.
If the eyes are staying blue, the grey tone will shift to a clearer, more defined blue. The murkiness fades as the iris structure matures, even though melanin levels stay low.
Green and hazel eyes take a similar path but involve intermediate melanin levels, so the transition can be more gradual and harder to predict. What looks grey-green at 6 months might settle into green by age 2.
| Age | What Typically Happens |
|---|---|
| Birth | Grey or grey-blue eyes in most Caucasian babies |
| 3-6 months | First signs of color change appear if eyes will darken |
| 9-12 months | Eye color is fairly apparent, though may still deepen |
| 3 years | Eye color is permanent in most cases |
For a complete breakdown of the eye color change process, check out our guide on when babies' eyes change color.
Can Eyes Stay Grey Permanently?
Yes, but it's uncommon. True grey eyes in adults are rare and most common in Northern and Eastern European populations.
Adult grey eyes are different from newborn grey eyes. Newborn grey is caused by lack of melanin. Adult grey eyes have a specific amount and distribution of melanin plus a denser collagen structure in the iris that affects how light scatters.
If your baby's eyes are still grey at 6 months with no signs of color change, there's a chance they might stay grey. But it's more likely they'll shift to blue over the next year. Grey eyes often appear as a darker, more blue-grey shade than newborn grey.
Grey vs Blue Eyes
Grey and blue eyes are genetically similar—both involve low melanin levels. The difference lies in the iris structure and how light interacts with it. Grey eyes tend to have a denser collagen layer in the stroma (the front part of the iris), which changes how light scatters.
Some people's eyes appear grey in certain lighting and blue in other lighting. The actual pigmentation isn't changing—just how we perceive the scattered light based on environmental conditions.
Why Some Babies Are Different
Not all babies are born with grey eyes. The grey newborn eye color is most common in babies of European descent. Babies with darker skin tones typically have more melanin present at birth.
Babies Born with Brown Eyes
Many babies of African, Asian, Hispanic, or Middle Eastern descent are born with brown or dark grey-brown eyes. Their melanin production started earlier, possibly because their genetic programming initiates pigment production sooner.
These babies' eyes might still darken slightly over the first year, but the change is subtle—going from lighter brown to darker brown, not from grey to brown.
Ethnic Background Matters
The timeline and pattern of eye color development varies by ancestry. European populations have high rates of blue and light-colored eyes, so their babies start with minimal melanin. Populations from regions with higher UV exposure evolved higher baseline melanin levels, which shows up earlier in development.
This isn't about one being "better"—it's adaptation to different environments over thousands of years.
Mixed ancestry: Babies from mixed ethnic backgrounds can follow either pattern or something in between. A baby with one European parent and one Asian parent might be born with grey-brown eyes that darken to brown, or grey eyes that turn hazel. There's more variability in these cases.
What Determines Final Eye Color
Genetics determines how much melanin your baby's iris will eventually produce. Multiple genes are involved, with the OCA2 and HERC2 genes playing the biggest roles.
These genes control whether melanin production in the iris will be high (brown eyes), low (blue eyes), or somewhere in between (green, hazel). The grey color at birth doesn't predict anything—it's just the starting point before genetic instructions fully kick in.
Family history gives you clues but not certainty. If both parents have brown eyes, the baby will probably have brown eyes. If both have blue eyes, the baby will almost certainly have blue eyes. Mixed eye colors in parents mean the outcome is less predictable.
For more on the genetics behind eye color, see our article on how eye color inheritance works.
What About Purple or Violet Eyes?
Some parents describe their newborn's eyes as purple or violet. This is usually a trick of lighting. When very minimal melanin is present and certain lighting conditions hit the eye, blood vessels behind the iris can create a reddish or purplish appearance.
True violet eyes in adults are extremely rare and may not exist at all outside of specific medical conditions like albinism. What looks violet in a newborn is typically just the grey-blue iris appearing purple under certain light.
Should You Worry About Grey Eyes?
No. Grey eyes in newborns are completely normal and expected in babies of European descent. They're not a sign of vision problems or health issues.
The only time to be concerned is if eye color changes suddenly after it seemed to stabilize, or if the two eyes are developing very differently (one darkens while the other stays light). Those situations are worth mentioning to your pediatrician, though they're usually harmless too.
When to check with a doctor: If your baby's eyes seem unusually sensitive to light, appear cloudy rather than clear, or if you notice any vision problems, get them checked regardless of eye color. But grey eyes by themselves aren't cause for concern.
The Bottom Line
Babies are born with grey or grey-blue eyes because melanin production in the iris hasn't started yet. They spent nine months in darkness, so the melanin-producing cells haven't been triggered by light exposure.
Once exposed to light, melanin gradually accumulates over months. The final eye color depends on genetics—how much melanin the genes instruct the iris to produce. Grey is just the temporary color we see when melanin is minimal or absent.
Most grey newborn eyes will change color by 6-12 months. A small percentage might stay grey permanently, but it's more common for them to settle into blue, green, hazel, or brown by the time the child is 3 years old.
Common Questions
Are grey eyes and blue eyes the same thing?
In newborns, pretty much yes. Both indicate low melanin levels. In adults, grey and blue eyes have subtle differences in iris structure, but they're genetically similar.
My baby's eyes look different colors in different lighting. Is that normal?
Completely normal. Grey and light-colored eyes especially can appear to change shades based on lighting, what the baby is wearing, and even the baby's mood (which affects pupil dilation). The actual pigmentation isn't changing—just how we perceive it.
Can you predict final eye color from newborn grey eyes?
Not reliably. The grey color at birth doesn't tell you much. Family history is a better predictor. If most relatives have brown eyes, the baby's grey eyes will probably darken. If light eyes run in the family, the grey might shift to blue or green.
Why are my baby's eyes darker near the pupil?
That's often the first sign that melanin is starting to accumulate. It typically appears in a ring around the pupil first and spreads outward. If you're seeing this, the eyes are probably going to darken to brown or hazel.
Do all newborns have grey eyes?
No. It's most common in babies of European descent. Babies with African, Asian, Hispanic, or Middle Eastern heritage often have brown or dark grey-brown eyes from birth because their melanin production started earlier.
Sources & Further Reading
- Stanford Children's Health. "Newborn Appearance" https://www.stanfordchildrens.org
- American Academy of Pediatrics. "Your Baby's Eyes" https://www.healthychildren.org