Somalis nose: bridge, tip and nostril shape in 54 observed portraits

Somalis: bridge profile (sagittal) Straight in 89% of 54; bridge height Medium in 91% of 54; bridge width Medium in 48% of 54; tip shape and definition Bulbous / round in 83% of 54; nostril shape Oval, horizontal in 78% of 54; alar base width Wide in 83% of 54; nasal length (proportional) Balanced in 93% of 54.

Catalog portraits for Somalis are AI-generated adult subjects; the measurements on this page come from documented photographs of real people, not from these images.

Bridge profile (sagittal)

n = 54 assessable

Shape of the nasal dorsum in the sagittal (side-view) plane. The single most ethnically-variant nasal dimension.

Value	Share	n
StraightLinear dorsum from radix to tip; no convex or concave deviation.	89%	48
Mildly convexSubtle dorsal convexity without a frank hump.	11%	6

Vocabulary: Bridge profile (sagittal) (rhinoplasty_dorsal_profile)

Bridge height

n = 54 assessable

Vertical projection of the nasal dorsum from the facial plane. A primary axis of ethnic variation independent of bridge profile shape.

Value	Share	n
Flat / low-setDorsum sits close to the facial plane; minimal projection. Common in East Asian, some Sub-Saharan African, and some indigenous populations.	9%	5
MediumAverage dorsal projection.	91%	49

Vocabulary: Bridge height (nasal_dorsum_height_qualitative)

Bridge width

n = 54 assessable

Width of the nasal dorsum at the mid-dorsum point, relative to the intercanthal distance.

Value	Share	n
NarrowMid-dorsum width less than approximately 60% of intercanthal distance.	6%	3
MediumMid-dorsum width approximately 60-80% of intercanthal distance.	48%	26
WideMid-dorsum width approximately equal to or exceeding intercanthal distance.	46%	25

Vocabulary: Bridge width (nasal_dorsum_width_qualitative)

Tip shape and definition

n = 54 assessable

Morphology and definition of the nasal tip — encompassing both shape (the silhouette) and definition (visibility of the lower lateral cartilage anatomy).

Value	Share	n
Bulbous / roundWide, fleshy, rounded tip with little visible cartilage definition.	83%	45
Defined / refinedTip has clear definition with visible tip-defining points but is not pointed; smooth supratip break.	17%	9

Vocabulary: Tip shape and definition (rohrich_tip_morphology)

Nostril shape

n = 54 assessable

Shape of the nostril aperture as visible from inferior view. Significant ethnic variation — round vs oval predominantly maps to West African vs European populations.

Value	Share	n
Oval, horizontalLong axis of nostril roughly parallel to the alar base; common in some Sub-Saharan African populations.	78%	42
FlaredNostrils visibly flared outward; alar lobule projects laterally.	20%	11
Oval, verticalLong axis approximately perpendicular to alar base; common in European populations.	2%	1

Vocabulary: Nostril shape (farkas_nostril_typology)

Alar base width

n = 54 assessable

Width of the nasal base measured between the most lateral points of the alae. The aesthetic reference is alar base width approximately equal to intercanthal distance, but this norm is European-derived and does not apply across all populations.

Value	Share	n
BalancedAlar base width approximately equal to intercanthal distance.	17%	9
WideAlar base width substantially greater than intercanthal distance. Common in Sub-Saharan African and some indigenous populations; the European-norm-derived aesthetic descriptor 'wide' should not be read as deviation from a universal ideal.	83%	45

Vocabulary: Alar base width (ferreras_garcia_alar_base_qualitative)

Nasal length (proportional)

n = 54 assessable

Length of the nose from radix (nasion) to subnasale, expressed proportionally relative to the lower facial third.

Value	Share	n
ShortNasal length less than ~90% of lower facial third.	2%	1
BalancedNasal length approximately 90-110% of lower facial third (Farkas aesthetic reference).	93%	50
LongNasal length greater than ~110% of lower facial third.	6%	3

Vocabulary: Nasal length (proportional) (facial_thirds_proportion)

Where these numbers come from

54 publicly documented portraits of notable Somalis people were assessed by a vision model against the full 22-vocabulary schema, one value per dimension. Values are what the photographs show, read by a model, not population measurements. Each table counts only portraits where the value could be assessed; covered, obscured and unclear portraits are reported separately.

Notable-people corpora skew older, so hair color over-represents gray and white, and image quality varies. Treat shares as a description of this sample.

These rows are not yet in the published catalog dataset, which currently carries the earlier single-row analysis; see the methodology. A family page exists only when at least 10 portraits carry an assessable value.