From cheeky aubergines to friendly smiley faces, emojis now form a staple part of many of our daily messages.
But which characters are the most popular in the UK?
To celebrate World Emoji Day today, a new tool dubbed the ‘Emojitracker’ has been unveiled.
This interactive tool charts the popularity of 1,000 emojis around the world, including in the UK, US, and globally.
Here in the UK, the classic red love heart tops the list, closely followed by the ‘face with tears of joy’.
In contrast, the ‘persevering face’ is Britain’s least loved character, while Brits also don’t appear to be fans of the pig, ‘lying face’, or broken chain.
So, how does your favourite emoji stack up?
Use the interactive tool below to find out.
Here in the UK, the classic red love heart tops the list, closely followed by the ‘face with tears of joy’
The first iteration of the Emojitracker was released by US engineer Matthew Rothenberg in 2013, and tracked the emojis used on Twitter (now X) in real time.
Now, a new version has been created, based on the emojis copied from Emojipedia and GetEmoji in real time.
‘The latest version of the Emojitracker shows the most popular 1,000 emojis both globally and across select countries,’ the site explains.
To try it yourself, click through the different tabs at the top to select the region – whether it’s All, US, UK, India, France or Other.
You’ll then be able to explore the popularity of 1,000 emojis.
To find out more about an individual emoji, click on it and an information box will pop up, explaining the popularity and meaning.
The most popular emojis in the UK
1. Red Heart
To celebrate World Emoji Day today, a new tool dubbed the ‘Emojitracker’ has been unveiled
The most popular face emoji is the Face with Tears of Joy, which features a yellow face with a big smile, uplifted eyebrows, and smiling eyes – each shedding a tear
Topping the list in the UK is the classic red love heart.
‘The red heart ideograph is traditionally used for expressions of love and romance across many cultures, with this being amongst the most frequence use cases for this emoji,’ Emojitracker explained.
‘However, the Red Heart emoji is also often used to express non-romantic positive sentiments, in part thanks to its use as one of the default reaction emoji options across many social messaging platforms (e.g. Instagram, Slack, WhatsApp).
‘Additionally, as with the other color-based hearts, this emoji is often also used to express an affinity with or appreciation for various people, places, groups, objects, or ideas associated with the same color.’
2. Face with Tears of Joy
The most popular face emoji is the Face with Tears of Joy, which features a yellow face with a big smile, uplifted eyebrows, and smiling eyes – each shedding a tear.
Unfortunately for fans of this emoji, it could be making you look old.
In a blog post, Emojipedia, explained: ‘It’s common wisdom on TikTok that the laughing crying emoji is for “boomers”.
Coming in third place is the Sparkles emoji, which is depicted as a cluster of three four-point stars
‘And by “boomers”, I mean anyone over the age of 35.’
If you want to appear younger, you may prefer to opt for the ‘skull’ or ‘coffin’ symbol to express your amusement.
3. Sparkles
Coming in third place is the Sparkles emoji, which is depicted as a cluster of three four-point stars.
While this is usually used sincerely, be careful of the Sparkles emoji’s double meaning.
‘Commonly used to indicate various positive sentiments, including love, happiness, beauty, gratitude, and excitement, as well as newness or cleanliness,’ Emojitracker explained.
‘May also be used as a form of emphasis or to convey sarcastic or mocking tones.’
4. Check Mark Button
The Check Mark Button is the fourth most popular emoji in the UK.
This emoji features a white tick with a green square surrounding it, and tends to symbolise confirmation or accomplishment.
5. Fire
Rounding out the top five is the fire emoji, which is depicted as a red, orange and yellow flickering flame.
Some emoji fans will use the fire to depict just that, although it’s most commonly used in a metaphorical sense.
‘Commonly used for various metaphorical expressions related to fire, including the slang hot (“attractive”) and lit (“excellent”),’ Emojitracker explained.
The least popular emoji in the UK
1. Persevering face
Of the 1,000 emojis analysed, the ‘persevering face’ was found to be the least popular. This yellow face features a flight frown, furrowed eyebrows and scrunched eyes, as if holding back tears
Of the 1,000 emojis analysed, the ‘persevering face’ was found to be the least popular.
This yellow face features a flight frown, furrowed eyebrows and scrunched eyes, as if holding back tears.
According to Emojitracker, it ‘may convey various degrees and tones of frustration, sadness, helplessness, and struggle.’
2. Pig
The humble pig – depicted in light pink in full profile on all fours facing left, with a long snout and short, curly tail – is the 999th most popular emoji in the UK.
Its low popularity may stem back to its lack of double meaning.
‘May be used to represent the animal, its food products, or various metaphorical senses of pig,’ Emojitracker vaguely explained.
3. Lying face
The humble pig – depicted in light pink in full profile on all fours facing left, with a long snout and short, curly tail – is the 999th most popular emoji in the UK
The lying face features a yellow face with a long nose – indicating it’s telling a lie in the manner of Pinocchio.
Like the pig, it doesn’t appear to have any hidden meanings, which could help to explain its position in the league table.
Emojitracker explained: ‘May represent lying, a liar, and other concepts of deceit and dishonesty to varying degrees of intensity.
‘Sometimes used to convey disbelief (e.g., You must be kidding) or feeling abashed (e.g., as if caught in the act of lying).’
4. Broken chain
The broken chain features a single length of metal chain that has had one of tis links forcefully broken appart.
It is usually used to discuss freedom and liberty, as well as various types of malfunction, according to Emojitracker.
5. Hushed face
In 996th place is the hushed face emoji, which features a yellow face with small, open eyes, raised eyebrows, and a small, open mouth.
While it tends to be used to express surprise, embarrassment or mild excitement, its diminishing popularity may relate to the fact that it’s so similar to the ‘astonished face’, which features larger eyes and mouth.
The astonished face is much more popular in the UK, coming in at 142nd place on the league table.
