<p>The wikipedia Article on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia#Prevalence_and_genetic_basis" rel="noreferrer">Synesthesia cites some prevalence studies</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Random population studies ...
  determined that 1 in 23 individuals have some kind of synesthesia,
  while 1 in 90 have colored graphemes (Simmer et al 2006). Colored days of the week and
  colored graphemes are the most common types(Simmer et al 2006; Campen, 1999).</p>
</blockquote>

<h3>References</h3>

<ul>
<li>Simner J, Mulvenna C, Sagiv N, et al. (2006). "Synaesthesia: the prevalence of atypical cross-modal experiences". Perception 35 (8): 1024–33. doi:10.1068/p5469. PMID 17076063.</li>
<li>Campen C (1999). "Artistic and psychological experiments with synesthesia". Leonardo 32 (1): 9–14. doi:10.1162/002409499552948.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-08T01:03:47.067Z
2013-02-08T01:03:47.067Z
Jeromy Anglim
<p>From Hubbard &amp; Ramachandran (2005):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>[...] the estimated prevalence of synesthesia has varied dramatically, between as many as 1 in 20 (Galton, 1883) and as few as 1 in 25,000 (Cytowic, 1989). The most widely cited study to date suggests that synesthesia occurs in at least 1 in 2000 people (Baron-Cohen et al., 1996), although this is now generally regarded as an underestimate. Our own informal samples have suggested that the prevalence of grapheme-color synesthesia might be between 1 in 200 (Ramachandran and Hubbard, 2001b) and 1 in 100 (Mulvenna et al., 2004). <strong>Subsequent large-scale studies have suggested that the prevalence of synesthesia might be as high as 1 in 20 across all forms and 1 in 100 for grapheme-color synesthesia</strong> (J. Simner, personal communication). This high prevalence argues against the notion that synesthesia is merely a “benign cognitive variant” (see Ward and Mattingley, 2005) and instead suggests that it is a widespread phenomenon that may provide novel insights into the neural basis of the mind (Ramachandran and Hubbard, 2001b).</p>
</blockquote>

<p>&nbsp;
<strong>References</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Hubbard, E. M., &amp; Ramachandran, V. S. (2005). Neurocognitive mechanisms of synesthesia. Neuron, 48(3), 509.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-03-11T02:14:52.343Z
2013-03-11T02:14:52.343Z
Jeff
<p>I visited a neuropsychologist recently who told me I have Synesthesia. I never really knew what it was, but it's fascinating and I can't believe it isn't the norm among people. For me, certain numbers just have had personalities.</p>

<p>For some reason, the more difficulty I had with the number, the more complex personality it had. For instance, I had a lot of trouble with odd numbers, and larger numbers. Therefore, 1 and 2 do not have personalities. On the contrary, 7 and 9 are the most developed personalities. </p>

<p>How rare is this condition?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-12-30T05:37:00.450Z
Mia, I took out the part asking for personal stories, as that makes the question "not constructive" by Stack Exchange standards.  However, feel free to fill that in with more scientifically-based questions about the topic.
Chuck Sherrington
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-12-31T18:27:36.573Z
I feel like more initial research could be done on this question.  Start by googling synesthesia demographics.  I think there's more than one kind of  synesthete too (upper vs lower)
Keegan Keplinger
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-12-31T19:13:56.803Z
Thanks, I have researched it but the results have been varied. I get different answers for each site I get.
Genevieve
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-05T19:35:32.990Z
V.S. Ramachandran has studied this syndrome intensively http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/ramachandran07/ramachandran07_index.html http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Synesthesia#Genetics_of_synesthesia
Hauser
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-08T01:57:43.287Z
Hauser - thanks so much, those articles are very well written. Going to save them. :D
Genevieve
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-11T22:59:34.500Z
there was a really good episode on public television about this, looks like it is well documented also!
Greg McNulty
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-05T08:23:54.033Z
It's not really clear how rare it is, because so many people probably have it without knowing that it's a condition. So the population may vary from 1 in 200 to 1 in 200000. Nobody knows how many exactly.
user16399
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-28T09:52:26.857Z
I think its really common considering myself and most of my family members and friends have it. (Maybe because they are all musicians/ artists?) Its not much of a deal- its when you associate certain words and sounds with a colour. You don't see a colour, you know it is. For example when I hear Billie Eilish' song 'Lovely' I imagine it as mustard yellow and pale blue. I also associate words and number to colours.
For example:
8- indigo purple Wednesday- brown
A- red
limited -yellow/orange
0- black
Janruary - duck egg blue
Sophie Lee
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-28T13:47:10.167Z
this reminds me of the Indian mathematician Ramanujan
Ooker
<perception><synesthesia>
How rare is synesthesia?
Genevieve
# How rare is synesthesia?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-12-30)

I visited a neuropsychologist recently who told me I have Synesthesia. I never really knew what it was, but it's fascinating and I can't believe it isn't the norm among people. For me, certain numbers just have had personalities.

For some reason, the more difficulty I had with the number, the more complex personality it had. For instance, I had a lot of trouble with odd numbers, and larger numbers. Therefore, 1 and 2 do not have personalities. On the contrary, 7 and 9 are the most developed personalities.

How rare is this condition?

**Tags:** perception, synesthesia

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Mia, I took out the part asking for personal stories, as that makes the question "not constructive" by Stack Exchange standards.  However, feel free to fill that in with more scientifically-based questions about the topic.  
> **username_2**: I feel like more initial research could be done on this question.  Start by googling synesthesia demographics.  I think there's more than one kind of  synesthete too (upper vs lower)  
> **username_0**: Thanks, I have researched it but the results have been varied. I get different answers for each site I get.  
> **username_3**: V.S. Ramachandran has studied this syndrome intensively http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/ramachandran07/ramachandran07_index.html http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Synesthesia#Genetics_of_synesthesia  
> **username_0**: username_3 - thanks so much, those articles are very well written. Going to save them. :D  
> **username_4**: there was a really good episode on public television about this, looks like it is well documented also!  
> **username_5**: It's not really clear how rare it is, because so many people probably have it without knowing that it's a condition. So the population may vary from 1 in 200 to 1 in 200000. Nobody knows how many exactly.  
> **username_6**: I think its really common considering myself and most of my family members and friends have it. (Maybe because they are all musicians/ artists?) Its not much of a deal- its when you associate certain words and sounds with a colour. You don't see a colour, you know it is. For example when I hear Billie Eilish' song 'Lovely' I imagine it as mustard yellow and pale blue. I also associate words and number to colours. For example: 8- indigo purple Wednesday- brown A- red limited -yellow/orange 0- black Janruary - duck egg blue  
> **username_7**: this reminds me of the Indian mathematician Ramanujan  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_9 on 2013-03-11. Score: 11 | Accepted answer

From Hubbard & Ramachandran (2005):

> [...] the estimated prevalence of synesthesia has varied dramatically, between as many as 1 in 20 (Galton, 1883) and as few as 1 in 25,000 (Cytowic, 1989). The most widely cited study to date suggests that synesthesia occurs in at least 1 in 2000 people (Baron-Cohen et al., 1996), although this is now generally regarded as an underestimate. Our own informal samples have suggested that the prevalence of grapheme-color synesthesia might be between 1 in 200 (Ramachandran and Hubbard, 2001b) and 1 in 100 (Mulvenna et al., 2004). **Subsequent large-scale studies have suggested that the prevalence of synesthesia might be as high as 1 in 20 across all forms and 1 in 100 for grapheme-color synesthesia** (J. Simner, personal communication). This high prevalence argues against the notion that synesthesia is merely a “benign cognitive variant” (see Ward and Mattingley, 2005) and instead suggests that it is a widespread phenomenon that may provide novel insights into the neural basis of the mind (Ramachandran and Hubbard, 2001b).

**References**

> Hubbard, E. M., & Ramachandran, V. S. (2005). Neurocognitive mechanisms of synesthesia. Neuron, 48(3), 509.


---

### Answer by username_8 on 2013-02-08. Score: 6

The wikipedia Article on [Synesthesia cites some prevalence studies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia#Prevalence_and_genetic_basis)

> Random population studies ...
> determined that 1 in 23 individuals have some kind of synesthesia,
> while 1 in 90 have colored graphemes (Simmer et al 2006). Colored days of the week and
> colored graphemes are the most common types(Simmer et al 2006; Campen, 1999).

### References

* Simner J, Mulvenna C, Sagiv N, et al. (2006). "Synaesthesia: the prevalence of atypical cross-modal experiences". Perception 35 (8): 1024–33. doi:10.1068/p5469. PMID 17076063.
* Campen C (1999). "Artistic and psychological experiments with synesthesia". Leonardo 32 (1): 9–14. doi:10.1162/002409499552948.


---

