The Most Used Emojis, According to Unicode's Data
😂 face with tears of joy is the most used emoji in Unicode’s published frequency data, and ❤️ red heart shares the top row with it. 😍 and 🤣 fill the next row. Those are the emojis most used in Unicode’s ranking, which dates from 2019 and takes the median across sources Unicode doesn’t name.
Below are Unicode’s top rows in its own order, what those emojis mean, and what the data can’t tell you. To look up any other emoji, use our emoji meanings dictionary.
Table of Contents
- What are the emojis most used in Unicode’s data?
- What do the most used emojis mean?
- Which emojis come next in the ranking?
- How did Unicode measure emoji use?
- Is 😂 still the most used emoji?
- How should you use popular emojis in posts?
- Frequently Asked Questions
What are the emojis most used in Unicode’s data?
Unicode’s ranking puts 😂 and ❤️ in row 0, 😍 and 🤣 in row 1, and 5 more emojis in row 2. Unicode sorts emoji into rows rather than exact places, and numbers the top row 0. Each row has roughly half the frequency of the row above, measured against 😂, and within a row the emojis are listed from most to least used.
| Emoji | Name | Code point(s) | Emoji version (year) | Common meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 😂 | face with tears of joy | U+1F602 | E0.6 (Unicode 6.0) 2010 | Shows that something is very funny, like typing "LOL" or "haha". |
| ❤️ | red heart | U+2764 U+FE0F | E0.6 (Unicode 6.0) 2010 | Expresses love and romance, the classic meaning of a red heart.Note: Dictionary.com notes it can also be used flirtatiously, so context matters. |
Characters, names, code points and versions from Unicode's emoji-test.txt (Emoji 18.0) and the Emoji Versions table in Unicode Technical Standard #51, checked . The year is when Unicode first defined the emoji, not when phones added it: vendors roll new emoji out later, at different times. E0.6 and E0.7 are Unicode's labels for emoji added in Unicode 6.0 (2010) and Unicode 7.0 (2014), before Emoji 1.0 was released in 2015. Emoji show in your device's own font, so they look different on other phones and computers. Meanings paraphrased from Emojipedia and Dictionary.com Emoji Dictionary, checked ; meanings vary by person and context.
Checked against Unicode's emoji frequency page (2019 data).
| Emoji | Name | Code point(s) | Emoji version (year) | Common meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 😍 | smiling face with heart-eyes | U+1F60D | E0.6 (Unicode 6.0) 2010 | Shows enthusiastic love, adoration or infatuation, as if saying "I love this". |
| 🤣 | rolling on the floor laughing | U+1F923 | Emoji 3.0 2016 | Shows hysterical laughter, a stronger version of 😂, like the acronym ROFL. |
Characters, names, code points and versions from Unicode's emoji-test.txt (Emoji 18.0) and the Emoji Versions table in Unicode Technical Standard #51, checked . The year is when Unicode first defined the emoji, not when phones added it: vendors roll new emoji out later, at different times. E0.6 and E0.7 are Unicode's labels for emoji added in Unicode 6.0 (2010) and Unicode 7.0 (2014), before Emoji 1.0 was released in 2015. Emoji show in your device's own font, so they look different on other phones and computers. Meanings paraphrased from Emojipedia and Dictionary.com Emoji Dictionary, checked ; meanings vary by person and context.
Checked against Unicode's emoji frequency page (2019 data).
| Emoji | Name | Code point(s) | Emoji version (year) | Common meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 😊 | smiling face with smiling eyes | U+1F60A | E0.6 (Unicode 6.0) 2010 | Expresses genuine happiness and warm, positive feelings.One source only: Emojipedia. |
| 🙏 | folded hands | U+1F64F | E0.6 (Unicode 6.0) 2010 | Means "please" or "thank you", the meaning of the gesture in Japanese culture.Note: Some people read it as a high-five, though Emojipedia notes that use is rare. |
| 💕 | two hearts | U+1F495 | E0.6 (Unicode 6.0) 2010 | Expresses love, affection or happiness, a "love is in the air" feeling. |
| 😭 | loudly crying face | U+1F62D | E0.6 (Unicode 6.0) 2010 | Often used in an exaggerated, humorous way for overwhelming emotion, including laughter, joy, excitement or love. |
| 😘 | face blowing a kiss | U+1F618 | E0.6 (Unicode 6.0) 2010 | Sends a kiss goodbye or goodnight, and love or affection more generally. |
Characters, names, code points and versions from Unicode's emoji-test.txt (Emoji 18.0) and the Emoji Versions table in Unicode Technical Standard #51, checked . The year is when Unicode first defined the emoji, not when phones added it: vendors roll new emoji out later, at different times. E0.6 and E0.7 are Unicode's labels for emoji added in Unicode 6.0 (2010) and Unicode 7.0 (2014), before Emoji 1.0 was released in 2015. Emoji show in your device's own font, so they look different on other phones and computers. Meanings paraphrased from Emojipedia and Dictionary.com Emoji Dictionary, checked ; meanings vary by person and context.
Checked against Unicode's emoji frequency page (2019 data).
What do the most used emojis mean?
Mostly laughter, love and thanks. 😂 and 🤣 are laughing faces; 😍, 💕 and 😘 send love or affection; 🙏 means please or thank you and is widely used for prayer or good wishes; Emojipedia describes 😊 as genuine happiness; and 😭 is used more for over-the-top emotion, laughter included, than for real grief. ❤️ covers romance and everyday warmth such as thanks or support. Here are the two emojis in row 0 in full:
U+1F602 · E0.6 (Unicode 6.0), 2010 - Shows that something is very funny, like typing "LOL" or "haha".
- Often repeated in a row to make the laughter feel bigger.
- Used to lighten the tone of a message rather than to say the sender is literally crying with laughter.
U+2764 U+FE0F · E0.6 (Unicode 6.0), 2010 - Expresses love and romance, the classic meaning of a red heart.
- Also used for non-romantic warmth such as thanks, support or happiness, helped by its place as a default reaction on many messaging apps.
- Stands in for the word "love", as in "I ❤️ NY".
- Dictionary.com notes it can also be used flirtatiously, so context matters.
The other smileys in these rows are explained group by group in our guide to emoji faces and what they mean.
Which emojis come next in the ranking?
Further down, 👍 and 🔥 sit in row 3, ✨ and 💯 in row 4, and 👀 in row 5. Unicode lists 18 emojis in row 3, 35 in row 4 and 35 in row 5, each row roughly half as frequent as the one above.
| Emoji | Name | Code point(s) | Emoji version (year) | Common meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 👍 | thumbs up | U+1F44D | E0.6 (Unicode 6.0) 2010 | Shows approval, agreement or encouragement.Note: In some contexts it can read as passive-aggressive or sarcastic.Note: Dictionary.com notes the thumbs-up gesture is considered rude in some places, including Australia, Greece and parts of the Middle East. |
| 🔥 | fire | U+1F525 | E0.6 (Unicode 6.0) 2010 | Says something is impressive, exciting or excellent, like the slang "fire" or "lit".Note: Dictionary.com notes that, because "lit" and "fire" are also drug slang, it is sometimes used that way. |
| ✨ | sparkles | U+2728 | E0.6 (Unicode 6.0) 2010 | Adds positive feelings such as excitement, love, beauty or gratitude.Note: Since late 2023 a similar sparkle icon is widely used to mark AI features in apps.Note: Dictionary.com notes it is occasionally used with a sexual meaning. |
| 💯 | hundred points | U+1F4AF | E0.6 (Unicode 6.0) 2010 | Means "100%", "absolutely" or "keep it real" (keep it 100). |
| 👀 | eyes | U+1F440 | E0.6 (Unicode 6.0) 2010 | Draws attention to something, often drama or gossip the sender is enjoying watching.Note: Sometimes used to say someone in a photo is attractive. |
Characters, names, code points and versions from Unicode's emoji-test.txt (Emoji 18.0) and the Emoji Versions table in Unicode Technical Standard #51, checked . The year is when Unicode first defined the emoji, not when phones added it: vendors roll new emoji out later, at different times. E0.6 and E0.7 are Unicode's labels for emoji added in Unicode 6.0 (2010) and Unicode 7.0 (2014), before Emoji 1.0 was released in 2015. Emoji show in your device's own font, so they look different on other phones and computers. Meanings paraphrased from Emojipedia and Dictionary.com Emoji Dictionary, checked ; meanings vary by person and context.
Checked against Unicode's emoji frequency page (2019 data).
The full rows, in Unicode’s order, ready to copy:
How did Unicode measure emoji use?
Unicode ranked the Unicode v12.0 emoji by their median frequency of use across multiple sources, and its page doesn’t name the sources. Gender and skin-tone variants were counted together as one item, so one entry covers every skin tone of a gesture. Unicode published the list to help people proposing new emoji, and it spells out the limits itself:
- It is a summary ranking: Unicode says the order may be different within a particular geography or on particular platforms or programs.
- Newer emoji tend to rank lower because it takes time for them to roll out to all devices.
- Unicode says the data may be updated at any time as new information becomes available.
- The page is filed under 'ARCHIVE' (emoji data from previous years). Treat it as 2019 data, not current usage.
- Unicode uses frequency as one of many considerations when reviewing new emoji proposals.
One more gap shows on the page itself: newer faces such as 🥺 pleading face and 🥰 smiling face with hearts, both from Emoji 11.0 (2018), appear nowhere on Unicode’s published list (checked 3 October 2026). So it can’t say how they compare with 😂.
Is 😂 still the most used emoji?
Unicode’s own data can’t answer that: the newest ranking you can read on its frequency pages is from 2019. In a blog post on 2 December 2021, Unicode announced a new frequency page ranking the v12.0 emoji by use in 2021, but the post links to the same page, which now shows only the 2019 ranking (checked 3 October 2026). A second Unicode frequency page carries the same rows with no year printed on it.
So a claim that 😂 is still on top today rests on someone else’s count, not on a Unicode ranking you can check.
How should you use popular emojis in posts?
Use a popular emoji the way you’d use a word: it works when your audience reads it the way you mean it. Even the most common ones carry cautions. 👍 can read as passive-aggressive or sarcastic in some contexts, and Dictionary.com notes the thumbs-up gesture is considered rude in some places, including Australia, Greece and parts of the Middle East. And since late 2023, a sparkle icon much like ✨ has been widely used to mark AI features in apps.
For brand accounts, our social media emoji guide goes further, and the Instagram emoji guide covers Instagram. To draft a caption with emojis already in it, our free Instagram caption generator can add them with a toggle.
Plan and schedule your next post in Outfeed AI
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most used emoji in the world?
In Unicode’s published frequency data, 😂 face with tears of joy is the most used emoji. Unicode measures every other emoji against it and lists ❤️ red heart beside it in the top row. That ranking is from 2019 and takes the median across multiple sources that Unicode does not name.
What are the most used emojis?
Unicode’s 2019 ranking puts 😂 and ❤️ in its top row, 😍 and 🤣 in the next, then 😊, 🙏, 💕, 😭 and 😘. Unicode groups emoji into rows rather than exact places: each row has roughly half the frequency of the row above, and within a row the emoji are listed in descending order.
Is 😂 still number one?
It was in Unicode’s 2019 data, the only ranking on Unicode’s frequency page when we checked in October 2026. Unicode announced a 2021 update in a December 2021 blog post, but the page that post links to now shows only the 2019 ranking, so there is no newer Unicode ranking to check.
Which emoji is least used?
Unicode doesn’t name one. Its ranking sorts emoji into rows, and it says those in row 11 and beyond are below median frequency, less than 1/2048 as frequent as 😂. Rows 16 and 17 hold only samples of the rarest emoji, mostly flags, because Unicode had little data on them.
What is the most used emoji on Instagram or TikTok?
Unicode’s ranking can’t tell you. It is a summary across sources, and Unicode says the order may be different within a particular geography or on particular platforms or programs. Its frequency page gives no figures for individual apps, so any per-app ranking is that publisher’s own data, not Unicode’s.