Skip to content
What Does it Mean If You Have a Double Crown in Your Hair?
Your hair that grows from this point in your scalp is arranged in a circular formation that’s called a “whorl.†When you have two “whorls†at the crown of your head, it’s called a “double crown.â€
Having a double crown has been associated with everything from certain health conditions to being especially intelligent.
Many of these associations are just myths or long-held cultural assumptions that don’t have any supporting data.
According to the National Human Genome Research Institute, 5 percent of people have a double whorl on their heads.
This characteristic occurs in women and in men. Let’s take a look at what having a double crown indicates, and what it doesn’t.
Appearance
A typical “crown†on your head is simply your hair follicles in a circular pattern, all following one direction.
When your hair is cropped short, you can distinctly see this pattern forming a circular “crown†on your head with a small spot in the center where no hair grows.
When you have a double crown, there are two of these circular patterns. They may grow in opposite directions or grow in the same direction, spaced a few inches apart.
Cause
As far as we know, your hair pattern on top of your head doesn’t serve an underlying purpose to help your body.
Your hairs fall where they may, and there’s not a lot of research that establishes exactly why that is. We do know that in addition to humans, most other hairy animals have hair whorls of some sort.
One 2004 study of 500 male participants showed that 75 percent had whorls that went in clockwise patterns, while 11 percent had whorls that went in counter- clockwise patterns.
The whorl patterns seen in this study seemed to be connected to ethnicity, which supports the idea that a double crown on your head may simply run in your family.
What does it mean?
Some myths about double crowns on your head are easy to dismiss, while others are a bit more complicated. Let’s examine some of the more common beliefs about having a double crown.
Myth 1: Having a double crown is related to balding
Especially in the case of male pattern baldness, hair tends to thin out around your temples and at the crown of your head.
Experiencing hair loss at the crown of your hair may make a double hair whorl look more prominent. But there’s no evidence that links having a double crown to baldness or losing your hair earlier in life.
Myth 2: Having a double crown means that you’re a gifted person or a genius
There is no reason to believe that a double crown on your head means that you are exceptionally talented. Perhaps having a double crown runs in your family, and your family coincidentally tends to be excellent at math.
There are so many factors that go into the genetic connection of giftedness that it’s impossible to simply trace giftedness back to the double whorls on your head.
Myth 3: Having a double crown means that you will be on the autism spectrum
There is no well-established link between having a double crown and being autistic.
One small 2013 study in Turkey showed that autistic male participants had more hair whorls. However, the researchers also noted that people in the study who were left-handed were more likely to be autistic.
Since there is a genetic component to the following experiences, it makes sense that there is some connection with:
- autism
- having multiple hair whorls
- being left-handed
However, simply having multiple hair whorls doesn’t indicate that a person is autistic.
There are plenty of people who have double crowns on their heads and are autistic — just like there are plenty of people who are left-handed and not autistic.
How to style it
If you want to style or hide a double crown, the key is to grow your hair out a bit longer. Once your hair has some length, you can experiment with volumizing tools like:
- gel
- mousse
- hairspray
You can use these products to shape your hair in different directions and create a messy, volumized look that conceals the double crown.
You may also want to try combing your hair over to one side or changing the way that you part your hair to hide the double crown. Ultimately, there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a double crown.
You can choose to hide it, if you’d like, but it’s not a medical condition and there’s no reason to feel that you need to conceal the way your hair on the back of your head grows.
When to talk with a pro
If your double crown bothers you, you may want to speak with a professional about ways that you can style your hair around it.
Your stylist will have ideas about products you can use and style strategies you can try to make the double whorl harder to spot.
The bottom line
A double crown is a characteristic similar to your hair color or your eye shape. It’s linked to your genetics, and it doesn’t definitively indicate more about you.
There may be certain genetic characteristics that people with a double whorl are more likely to have, but science hasn’t established these links as definitive.
If your double crown makes you uncomfortable, you can speak with a stylist for advice.
Read this next
The crown of your head is the area at the very top of your skull. Learn about health conditions that may affect this area.
Hair miniaturization is a thinning of the hair follicles that leads to a receding hairline or balding. We’ll discuss treatments.
Tips for maintaining or covering a widow’s peak, a distinctive, V-shaped hairline that tends to run in families.
Hair grows back at a rate of about 6 inches per year, but the rate at which it will return after hair loss depends on what caused the loss in the…
Put your best face forward with these expert DIY tips and beard oil recipes.
Finding the right arsenal of hair products for curly hair isn't easy, so we tapped our editors to figure out what their tried-and-true collection of…
Some say henna can leave your locks fried. Here’s how to protect your mane, according to experts.
Love dry shampoo but dislike the ingredients? These 12 picks offer safer, organic formulas that still soak up excess oil