The most popular emoji is 😂 Face with Tears of Joy, followed by ❤️ Red Heart, according to the Unicode Consortium's own frequency ranking. After those two come 😍, 🤣, 😊, 🙏, 💕, 😭, 😘 and 👍. That's the official order from the body that approves every emoji, and it's worth knowing that the list it publishes is an archived 2019 ranking, so it shows long term habits rather than this week's fads.
Emojis turn up in almost every caption, comment and DM, and it's natural to wonder which ones people use most. Rather than guess, go to the source. The cleanest data comes from the Unicode Consortium, the organisation that decides which emoji exist in the first place. Here's what its ranking says, how it was built, and how I'd use it in your own posts.
The top 10 emojis, in Unicode's order
| Rank | Emoji | Name | Where it sits in Unicode's groups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 😂 | Face with Tears of Joy | Top group, the benchmark every other emoji is measured against |
| 2 | ❤️ | Red Heart | Top group |
| 3 | 😍 | Smiling Face with Heart-Eyes | Second group |
| 4 | 🤣 | Rolling on the Floor Laughing | Second group |
| 5 | 😊 | Smiling Face with Smiling Eyes | Third group |
| 6 | 🙏 | Folded Hands | Third group |
| 7 | 💕 | Two Hearts | Third group |
| 8 | 😭 | Loudly Crying Face | Third group |
| 9 | 😘 | Face Blowing a Kiss | Third group |
| 10 | 👍 | Thumbs Up | Fourth group |
Unicode lists the emoji in descending order inside each group, so the rank numbers above follow its own order. Just outside the top 10 you'll find 😅, 👏, 😁, 🔥, 💔, 💖, 💙, 😢, 🤔, 🙄, 💪, 😉, 👌 and 🤗, all in the same fourth group as the thumbs up.
How Unicode measures emoji popularity
This isn't a poll or one app's data. Unicode says the ranking is based on the median frequency of use of each emoji across multiple sources. A few details change how you should read it:
- Variants are counted together. Every skin tone and gender version of an emoji is collected into one representative item, so the list shows how often a concept is used, not one exact character.
- The groups halve as you go down. Each group has roughly half the frequency of the group above it, with 😂 as the benchmark. So the third group is used far less often than the top two, even though the gap between ranks 2 and 3 looks small in a list.
- Newer emoji start low. Unicode notes that newer emoji tend to rank lower because it takes time for them to roll out to every device.
- It's a summary. Unicode says the order can be different within a particular country, platform or app.
That second point is the one most people miss. Because each group is about half as frequent as the one before, 😂 and ❤️ aren't just slightly ahead. They sit in a league of their own, and everything from the thumbs up down is a much smaller slice of everyday use.
Why this list exists at all
Unicode doesn't publish frequency data for fun. It says data about how often current emoji are used is one of the factors it considers when deciding which new emoji to add. So if you've ever wondered why some emoji proposals succeed and others don't, usage is part of the answer. Frequency is one of many considerations, not the only one.
The page Unicode publishes today is labelled as an archive, and the ranking covers emoji up to Unicode version 12.0. I'd treat it as the long running picture of what people reach for, not a live chart. Habits like these change slowly, which is exactly why it's still useful.
What the ranking means for your business posts
Here's how I'd turn the data into something practical for captions and replies:
- Use the familiar ones for clarity. 😂, ❤️, 😊, 🙏 and 👍 are recognised by almost everyone, so they won't confuse a new follower.
- Match the emoji to the moment. 🙏 works well for a thank you to a customer, ❤️ for a lovely review, 🔥 for a launch you're excited about.
- Don't stack them. One or two well placed emojis read as warm. A row of six reads as noise, and it pushes your real words further down the preview.
- Put words first in the first line. People skim the opening of a caption, so lead with what you're saying and add the emoji after.
- Check how they look on each platform. The same emoji can look slightly different on different phones, and Unicode itself notes that not all browsers and systems display every emoji.
If TikTok is where you post, it also has its own hidden set, and I've explained how to use TikTok's secret emojis. And for community spaces, here's how to add custom emojis to Discord.
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Emojis people often get wrong
A few of the most popular emojis carry more than one meaning, so think about who's reading. 😭 is often used for laughing so hard you cry, not only for sadness. 🙏 is read as please, thank you or a prayer depending on the person. And 👍 can feel friendly to one customer and a little curt to another, especially as a reply to a long message. When the message matters, add a few words so nobody has to guess.
My verdict
If you only remember one thing, remember the top two. 😂 and ❤️ lead Unicode's ranking by a wide margin, and the rest of the top 10 is made of warm, simple faces and hearts. For a business, that's a nudge to keep things human and friendly rather than clever. Pick two or three emojis that fit your brand's tone, use them consistently, and let your words do the heavy lifting.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most popular emoji?
😂 Face with Tears of Joy is the most popular emoji in the Unicode Consortium's frequency ranking, with ❤️ Red Heart second.
What are the top 10 most used emojis?
In Unicode's order: 😂, ❤️, 😍, 🤣, 😊, 🙏, 💕, 😭, 😘 and 👍.
How does Unicode rank emoji popularity?
Unicode ranks emoji by the median frequency of use across multiple sources, with skin tone and gender variants counted together.
Is the Unicode emoji ranking up to date?
Unicode labels its frequency page as an archive and the ranking covers emoji up to version 12.0, so it shows long term habits rather than a live chart.
Why do new emojis rank lower?
Unicode says newer emoji tend to have lower frequency because it takes time for them to roll out to all devices.
