Red hair (or ginger hair) occurs naturally in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and lesser frequency in other populations. It is most common in individuals homozygous for a recessive allele on chromosome 16 that produces an altered version of the MC1R protein. Cultural reactions to red hair have varied from ridicule to admiration with many common stereotypes in existence regarding redheads. The term redhead has been in use since at least 1510.