Beard Facts for Kids

Some kinds of beards.

A beard is the hair that grows on the lower part of a man's face. This includes the chin, cheeks, and jawline. The hair on the upper lip is called a mustache. If a man only has hair below his lower lip and above his chin, it's called a soul patch.

Some men have a lot of facial hair and a big beard. Others have very little. Many men today choose to shave some or all of their beards. They might also trim their beards to keep them short. While less common, women can also have beards.

Some animals also have hair that looks like a beard. People sometimes call this hair a beard too!

What is a Beard?
- Different Kinds of Facial Hair
Why Do People Grow Beards?
- Beards in History
  - Beards Around the World
Animals with Beards
Caring for a Beard
Images for kids
See also

What is a Beard?

A beard is simply the hair that grows on a person's face. It usually grows on the chin, cheeks, and jaw. Beards are a natural part of growing up for many men. They start to grow during puberty.

Different Kinds of Facial Hair

Beard: Hair on the chin, cheeks, and jaw.
Mustache: Hair on the upper lip.
Soul Patch: A small patch of hair just below the lower lip.
Goatee: Hair on the chin, sometimes with a mustache.
Sideburns: Hair that grows down the sides of the face, in front of the ears.

Why Do People Grow Beards?

People grow beards for many reasons. Sometimes it's for warmth or protection from the sun. Other times, it's for style or fashion. Beards can also be important for religious or cultural reasons.

Beards in History

Throughout history, beards have been seen in many different ways.

In ancient times, beards often showed wisdom or power.
Some cultures believed beards protected against evil.
In other times, clean-shaven faces were more popular.
Styles of beards have changed a lot over the centuries.

Beards Around the World

Many cultures have special traditions about beards.

In some religions, men grow long beards as a sign of their faith.
Some ancient civilizations, like the Egyptians, sometimes shaved their beards.
Others, like the Mesopotamians, took great care of their beards.
Today, you can see all kinds of beard styles around the world.

Animals with Beards

It's not just humans who have "beards"! Many animals have hair or feathers that look like beards.

The Bornean bearded pig has long hairs on its snout that look like a beard.
The bearded saki is a type of monkey with thick fur around its face.
Some birds, like the bearded vulture, have feather tufts that resemble a beard.

Caring for a Beard

Just like the hair on your head, beards need care.

They need to be washed and combed.
Some people use special oils or balms to keep their beards soft.
Trimming is important to keep a beard neat and tidy.

Images for kids

Henry David Thoreau with a neckbeard
Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico
Emperor Pedro II
J. L. Runeberg
Phoenicians or the ancestors of the Lebanese gave great attention to the beard, as can be seen in their sculptures.
The Israelite king Jehu kneels before Shalmaneser III as carved on the Black Obelisk, he and the Jewish delegation distinguished from the Assyrians by distinctive beards
Xuan Zong of Tang with the specific east Asian facial hair growth pattern in which hair only grows above the lips, below the lips and on the chin. The cheeks and jaw are unshaven as no hair grows there.
Aristotle with a beard.
Epictetus stated he would embrace death before shaving.
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
Charles Evans Hughes as Chief Justice of the United States
Russian Orthodox monk with a full beard playing a semantron
Many early LDS Church leaders (such as Brigham Young, pictured) wore beards.
Lorenzo Snow, Mormon missionary and fifth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
An example of an Ottoman-style beard (Sultan Selim III)
An elderly Bengali man with a beard dyed in henna.
Orthodox Jew in Jerusalem with an unshaved beard and peyos (sidelocks)
Sikh man
James Harden, nicknamed "the Beard"
Brian Wilson's beard in 2011
Bornean bearded pigs
A bearded saki
Ancient Indian warriors with various types of beards, circa 480 BCE.
Chhatrapati Shivaji of the Maratha Empire with a trimmed beard.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Empire with a long beard.
Indian warrior Kunwar Singh of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 with a standard beard.
Xuande emperor with a full beard
Face of Terracotta Army warrior
Lamassu beard relief in Gate of All Nations in Perspolis (south of Iran).
Fath-Ali Shah, the second Qajar Shah of Persia had a long beard.
Friedrich Engels exhibiting a full moustache and beard that was a common style among Europeans of the 19th century.
Johann Strauss II with a large beard, moustache, and sideburns.
Maryland Governor Thomas Swann with a long goatee. Such beards were common around the time of the American Civil War.
Emperor Meiji of Japan wore a full beard and moustache during most of his reign.
Johannes Brahms with a large beard and moustache.
Walt Whitman with a large beard and moustache.
Leo Tolstoy with a large beard and moustache.
English cricketer W. G. Grace with his trademark beard.
Cuban revolutionaries Che Guevara (left) and Fidel Castro (right) with a full beard.
The Ned Kelly beard was named after the bushranger, Ned Kelly.
Russian Orthodox Archbishop Saint Luka (Voyno-Yasenetsky) (1877–1961).
Rûm founders of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America
Basilios Bessarion's beard contributed to his defeat in the papal conclave of 1455.
Pope Paul III
Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and architect of the English Reformation, wore a long beard in his later years.
Thomas Bramwell Welch was a Methodist minister.
Roman Catholic Capuchin friar, Blessed Solanus Casey (1870–1957).
An Amish man with a Shenandoah beard.