A tiny circle of missing hair on forhead?

November 9, 2021 9:07 AM

I'm looking to see if there is a name for a tiny circle of missing hair in a hairline-- NOT a bald spot, just a shape of hairline?

So, when I was a kid my hairline had this little indention in a little circle at the tip of my forehead. My mom called it something and now I'm wondering if she called it a widow's peak- but that looks like the opposite thing. Is this a thing that exists and has a name? Google searching is turning up a lot of medical conditions and bald patches in kids and this is not what I'm talking about, if I can find a picture of what I mean, I'll post bellow. Thanks for any help-- I'm not sure why, now that I can't find anything about it, I must know lol!

posted by xarnop to Grab Bag (17 answers total)

I think you might mean a whorl.
posted by mmf at 9:12 AM on November 9, 2021

Maybe a cowlick?
posted by neushoorn at 9:19 AM on November 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

Cowlick?
posted by SLC Mom at 9:25 AM on November 9, 2021

Response by poster: closest I could find but it's a little more pronounced.

this

or this
posted by xarnop at 9:43 AM on November 9, 2021

There is nothing remotely remarkable about either of those two pictures. Very few hairlines are precise. You can pay a surgeon money to have your hairline refined, and many celebrities do (as well as wearing hair pieces, hair makeup, and wigs) which is why celebrities appear to have perfect hair.

There is no word or pathology I'm aware of to describe a normal imperfect hairline.
posted by phunniemee at 9:48 AM on November 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: LOL I'm not looking for a pathology-- I liked it, it's just bugging because of that feeling there's a word and you can't remember the word for something.

It already went away mostly- but we can't really share pictures here so I don't know how to post it. And those pictures don't really show the kind of spot I'm talking about. I really can't find any pictures that do! If you can imagine there being more of a spot right at the center of the hairline of those pictures, it's what I'm talking about lol
posted by xarnop at 9:53 AM on November 9, 2021

I've reviewed both pictures and I'm not seeing where the "circle of missing hair" is in the images you have attached.

On the contrary - the thing that I notice in both is a hairline feature where there is a presence of hair, where the hairline comes to a v-shape at the center of the forehead. This is called a widow's peak, and I have that hairline pattern myself.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:54 AM on November 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: like whispy hairs come out of the sides and in the center there's a spot. My mom might have made up a name for it since maybe it was just me lol.
posted by xarnop at 9:54 AM on November 9, 2021

Best answer: Oh, I have this. It’s like an inverted widow’s peak. No idea what it’s called, so perhaps your mom made up a name.
posted by umwhat at 9:58 AM on November 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I like the inverted widow's peak name, that might even be what she was saying! And that turned up the closest image to what I'm talking about!
... thanks for everyone's answers!
posted by xarnop at 10:15 AM on November 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

I’ve only heard those hairs called “baby hairs” or, depending on your hair texture, “edges.” I’ve never heard anything about the places where those hairs could grow, but don’t. I guess you can feel free to make up your own fun name!
posted by cranberrymonger at 10:16 AM on November 9, 2021

Still confused because the picture in your 'closest image' update looks to me nothing at all like the first two pics you posted, which seem to have lots of hair in a reasonably normal straight line with no holes! But sounds like you have an answer that will scratch the mental itch, at least :)
posted by penguin pie at 10:40 AM on November 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Yes- the first two were stretches lol... my hair line looks like the top two images except with a hole between the hair line and where the little hairs come out. In the second one in particular I can see a trace of it but ... it's just very hard to describe things like this without pictures! Now I don't have as many little wispy hairs and it's far less pronounced but I do still have it. Now I have a name for it and I know there are others!

I appreciate the help, sometimes not being able to find an answer to a simple/small question can turn it into something I must know more about lol.
posted by xarnop at 10:57 AM on November 9, 2021

I would call it “a gap in the hairline”. I’ve seen these, but never heard a word for them.

PS- “Edges” are a Black thing, as were “baby hairs” although “baby hairs” has been much more widely appropriated so the term is a bit de-racialized now.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 7:00 PM on November 9, 2021

Widower's valley. Since there doesn't seem to a be a name for it yet, that's what I propose.
posted by cocoagirl at 5:36 AM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

I have 4 very pronounced cowlicks, one at each "corner" of my head. They're a pain in the butt to deal with, especially the ones in the front. When I was a kid and my mother was struggling to smooth my bangs, she said I had the cowlicks because I had a "twisted medulla." She was being silly, of course.
posted by primate moon at 9:50 AM on November 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I still wish I could post pictures! Don't want to link my social media here but if anyone got curious actually wants to see a picture I can send an email... :D
Thanks for the responses all!
posted by xarnop at 10:22 AM on November 13, 2021