American teenage boy recognized for having largest afro in the world by Guinness World Records

Growing your hair crazy long has its perks, just ask Amir Menendez.

The 14-year-old has broken the 2024 Guinness World record for largest afro on a living teenager and man in the world. 

Amir’s afro measures 7.74 inches tall, 9.77 inches wide and 7.33 feet in circumference, setting a record in the category for men, according to Guinness World Records. 

Last year, a Louisiana woman by the name of Aevin Dugas set the world record for having the largest afro on a living person for the third time. Her afro measures 9.84 inches tall, 10.24 inches wide and 5.41 feet in circumference. 

When Amir looked up the previous record, he was sure his hair was much longer. 

“My hair is definitely longer than that,” he shared with Guinness. 

Even though Amir did not begin to grow his hair out so he could be crowned with largest afro then, he quickly realized his hair could grow record worthy long. 

He began to officially grow his hair out when he was 11.5 years old.

Amir’s favorite thing about his hair is how unique it is. 

“You don’t see something like my hair every day. Plus, it’s a great conversation starter,” he shared.

Past winners:Louisiana woman's 5-foot afro is world's largest, Guinness says, giving her title for 3rd time

Largest Afro became a Guinness category 13 years ago

Guinness has documented the world’s most extraordinary achievements since 1995, but it wasn’t until 2010 it decided to bestow the title of largest afro. 

The first person to set the record was Dugas with an afro with a perimeter measuring 4.4 feet.

“This is the first ever year that Guinness has recognized the largest Afro. We looked long and hard around the world for suitable potential candidates with help from various hair consultants and specialists. Aevin's photos leapt out at us, and she made the short list. Once we had everyone's measurement evidence, she was clearly our standout winner,” Michael Whitty, a Guinness photo editor previously told USA Today.

She went on to set the record again in 2021 and then once more in 2022, according to the Guinness World Records website. 

The 48-year-old previously told USA Today that applying to become a record holder occurred completely by accident. 

“It's actually a random type thing. My sister posted some pictures of my Afro on Facebook. A friend saw some of the photos and told me I should check into Guinness," Dugas shared.

Dugas said she submitted a bunch of hair-related pictures to Guinness officials in May of that year. Her record was authenticated three months later.

At the time, Dugas said she still had trouble believing she was a world record-holder.

“Before I left London, I saw the book in the airport and picked it up. I had to look up my name again just to make sure that this whole thing was real,” she shared.

Other incredible Guinness 2024 record holders

Amir isn’t the only record holder included in this year’s Guinness World Record book, sure to amaze. Here's a list of all the other record holders set to be included.

“The GWR2024 edition is the product of a year in which nearly 30,000 applications were reviewed by our records managers. Only a small percentage of claims have made it through the selection process, so the 2,638 records featured in the book really are the cream of this year's crop …  As ever, we've covered the widest possible spectrum of record-breaking, from the hairiest humans to the most talented guinea pigs, to the fastest rollercoasters, and the best-selling manga to the most celebrated athletes,” Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday wrote in a release. 

The 2024 Guinness World Record Book is now available in stores and online. 

• Tallest steer: Tommy is a pure-bred Brown Swiss from Massachusetts who measures 6 feet and 1 inch. The “gentle giant” spends most of his time roaming around pastures and eating grass. 
• Oldest competitive ninja athlete: Ginny Maccoll, 71, decided to get into fitness after watching her daughter Jessie Graff on American Ninja Warrior.  She has competed in Ninja tournaments the past six years. 
• Largest collection of Care Bears memorabilia: Nicholas Cherrywood, a Texan makeup artist has collected 1,234 Care Bear related merchandise since he was a boy. His love for the bears came after he was given Grumpy Bear and Cheer Bear during a hospital visit early on in his life. 
• Most Jenga blocks stacked on one vertical Jenga block: Auldin Maxwell, a 15-year-old from Canada, enjoys stacking Jenga blocks for fun.  Auldin first achieved the most Jenga blocks stacked on one vertical Jenga block and most giant Jenga blocks stacked on one vertical giant Jenga block with 1,400 regular-sized blocks and 500 giant Jenga blocks respectively. 
• Farthest flying disc throw caught by a dog: Canadian Rob McLeod holds 12  Guinness World Records titles that were won with his furry companions Davy Whippet and Sailor. While he was in school, Rob taught himself how to throw a frisbee in an Edmonton horse pasture.
• Most push-up burpees in one minute: Tom Enoch, a resident of the United Kingdom can do 16 push-up burpees in 60 seconds. He has 24 record titles. 
• Most juggling catches in one minute: Simeon Graham, a 15-year-old from the U.K. can juggle five, six, and seven objects. The amount of times Graham touches the objects are 423,396 and 378 objects. 
• Most touches of a football with the soles in one minute: Melody Donchet from France uses the sole to touch a football 227 times in one minute. 
• Most standing jumps on horseback in 30 seconds and most scissor transitions on horseback in 30 seconds: Amanda Staalsoe from Denmark can do 13 standing jumps on horseback in 30 seconds and five scissor transitions on horseback in 30 seconds.
• Longest hair on a teenager: Sidakdeep Chahal from India has hair that measures 4 feet and 3 inches. 
• Most skateboard ollies in one minute blindfolded and most consecutive skateboard ollies blindfolded: Ryusei Ouchi of Japan can complete 33 skateboard ollies in one minute blindfolded and 142 consecutive skateboard ollies blindfolded. 
• Tallest house of cards built in a time constraint: Tian Rui from China can make a house of 27 levels in an hour, a house of 50 levels in eight hours and a house of 50 levels in 12 hours. 
• Largest gathering of people dressed as astronauts: A school by the name of Repton in Abu Dhabi hosted the largest gathering of people dressed as astronauts, which consisted of 940 people.