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Tattoos don't always need to have meanings behind them. But, sometimes a fun image, a cool quote, or a couple of dots can mean more than meets the eye. These celebrities have tons of tattoos, and plenty have hidden meanings. After doing some digging, we've been able to uncover the truth behind these tats.
Emma Stone
Stone and her mother got these matching "crow's feet" tattoos together, This tattoo is supposed to represent the song "Blackbird" by the Beatles. Both Stone and her mother are huge Beatles fans, and Stone suggested they get these tattoos together when her mother got diagnosed with cancer.
Miley Cyrus
Miley has several tiny, beautiful tattoos to commemorate her life in small, different ways. This one is a portrait of her Shetland sheepdog named Emui. Her tattoo artist, Dr. Woo, actually spoiled the surprise of a public reveal for her by posting the photo on Instagram prematurely.
Emma Watson
This temporary tattoo was spotted on Watson's arm on the runway of the Vanity Fair Oscars party. This tattoo, which reads "Times Up," is a reference to the #TimesUp movement against sexual harassment against in the film industry. This tattoo is just temporary, but her message still stands.
Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus sure gets a lot of tattoos, and fast. One of her newest tattoos is a portrait of one of her dogs. This one is named Mary Jane, and she is one of Miley Cyrus's seven pet family.
Miranda Lambert
Lambert got this tattoo when she was on tour at 22. Evidently, her father hated the two crossed six-shooters so much that he didn't talk to her for a week. Since then, this tattoo became a mainstay of Miranda Lambert's fanbase. She even uses backdrops of this particular image on her tours.
Presley Gerber
After getting several tattoos on his neck, the 20-year-old celebrity decided to tattoo his face. His tattoo says "MISUNDERSTOOD" in all caps. Gerber has gotten some flack about this tattoo, but in the end, getting a tattoo is ultimately up to the individual. If he loves it, everyone else should at least be happy for him.
Hailey Baldwin
Baldwin got these tattoos done just in time for her wedding with Justin Bieber. When asked about them, she said that they have no specific meaning behind them. However, when she got her hand tattooed, she also got a little tattoo on the side of her neck that reads "lover."
Britney Spears
Brittany and her ex-husband got these tattoos together when they were still married. She has a pair of pink dice, while he has a pair of blue dice. Neither of them has plans to get the tattoo removed.
Nicki Minaj
Niki Minaj got this tattoo when Kanji tattoos were hot in the late 90s-early 2000s. The script is supposed to say "God will be with you," but it loosely translates to "holy one will be with you." Fortunately, this isn't the worst translation fail we've witnessed in tattoo history.
Zayn Malik
Malik got this tattoo on his hand for his partner, Gigi Hadid. He got this right before the public discovered that they're going to have a baby together. Hadid is still pregnant, but we just can't wait to see what the child looks like.
Kylie Jenner
Kylie got this one from celebrity tattoo artist Bang Bang just after her 18th birthday. This tattoo is the phonetic spelling of the word "sanity." Rumor has it, she might have the inverse of this tattoo (the phonetic spelling of "insanity") on her other hip.
Lady Gaga
Gaga got this tattoo right after she collaborated with Tony Bennett. Bennett is a legendary writer of show tunes and pop music through the ages. The trumpet is his signature instrument, so she chose to get that, and his signature, tattooed on her arm.
Demi Lovato
Alongside the enormous cross on her left hand, Lovato recently got this lion tattoo. This tattoo is supposed to be a tribute to an essay that one of her great fans, Ariana Huffington, wrote about her earlier that year. The lion was a huge talking point at the Time 100 Gala, where it made its public debut.
Sam Smith
Smith has many small tattoos, but some have more meaning than others. This one is Smith's representation of his views on LGBTQA marriage, and how everyone should be equal. They got this tattoo on their ring finger to state that they were "married to that idea."
Tim McGraw
McGraw was in a dark place in his life when he got this tattoo. He has stated that the "Jesus Fish" tattoo on the inside of his right bicep played a vital role in turning his life around. Apparently, after he got this tattoo, he found Christ and trusted his heart and his decisions in his career.
Kevin Jonas
Although this may look like a portrait of a fairytale princess, this is Kevin Jonas's wife! In the original picture that this tattoo is based on, Kevin's wife, Danielle, is walking six corgis and holding her dress up. For some reason, Kevin didn't want to get the six corgis tattooed on him, and we believe that he should get this tattooed over with the six corgis.
Dakota Johnson
Johnson and her husband got matching tattoos at one point. The tattoos are so small that they're almost impossible to make out through the camera lens. We can see an infinity symbol with one X on either side, but that's pretty much it.
Sophie Turner
After Game of Thrones ended, Sophie Turner spent some quality time in the chair at the tattoo shop. She got this G tattooed on her finger to commemorate her relationship with her grandfather. He passed away while she was filming the show.
Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott
Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott got these matching tattoos to celebrate a major milestone in their relationship. Jenner had an issue with a former relationship tattoo that she had to cover up after the fact. Fortunately, this one is just small enough to cover up with ease.
Ariana Grande
Grande and her crew got this matching tattoo on the year anniversary of the terror attacks on Manchester Arena. Just moments after Grande left the stage, a bomb went off in the crowd, killing 23 people and injuring another 112. This tattoo is shared by thousands of individuals who got this tattoo in solidarity to stand by the victims of the attack.
Colin Farrell
Farrell has a ton of tattoos, but only a few have serious meaning behind them. The tattoo on Farrell's left peck says "love no matter." Farrell got this because of his spiritual connection with the concept of true love and how he believes that true love with heal all human relationships.
Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber got this single needle tattoo with his wife, Hailey Baldwin in mind. The tattoo reads "grace." He has not gone on record about the exact significance of the tattoo, but since this photo was taken, he got it removed.
Lady Gaga
Gaga got this tattoo because she was opening for Metallica at the Grammys. Seriously, that's the story. The death moth that Gaga got tattooed on her typically represents the rebirth of a person or the introduction of new attributes in life. Presumably, opening for Metallica was such an important moment in Gaga's life, she just had to get this tattooed on her to remember it.
Halsey
According to Halsey, this upside-down horseshoe represents bad luck. She had said in interviews that it is a counterintuitive tattoo because she doesn't need luck to succeed. By getting this tattooed on her arm, she's showing her dedication to working towards her goals, and not relying on luck to get her where she wants to go.
Paris Jackson and Macaulay Culkin
For those who don't know, Macaulay Culkin and Paris Jackson have a god-daughter god-father relationship. To commemorate that for one another, they got matching spoon tattoos. They have never told the public what these tattoos meant, only that it is an inside joke between them.
Miley Cyrus
If you've ever purchased any meat alternatives from the store, you should have looked for this symbol on the package. Miley got this piece to commemorate her life-long devotion to veganism. Ideally, this will prevent her from ever being tempted to eat meat again.
Anne Hathaway
Hathaway has kept the meaning of this tattoo a secret from the public for a long time. Even when the paparazzi pries for an answer, Hathaway deflects the questions and asks to speak about other things. Rumor has it that this tattoo is intended to signify her relationship with her brother, who's name is Michael, hence the "M."
Miley Cyrus
Miley's dad usually hates the tattoos that his daughter gets. However, the great Billy Ray Cyrus couldn't deny his love for this tiny, single-needle design that Miley got on her foot. This is the only tattoo of his daughter's that he has publicly praised. He even posted a picture of it on Twitter!
Kendall Jenner
Kendall didn't tell the public what this tattoo meant, but when pressured, her tattoo artist spilled the beans on the story. This single white dot is supposed to remind Jenner that "it's the little things that matter." This tattoo is a tiny white dot on the inside of her right middle finger.
Evan Rachel Wood
This tattoo is actually a famous Pink Floyd lyric from the song "Shine on You Crazy Diamond." The tattoo reads "all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream." We don't know exactly what this means to Wood, but we can infer that it's got some deep personal meaning just based on the quote itself.
Miley Cyrus
This tattoo is a rip from the 20th-century artist Henri Matisse. This work is from a piece called "Dance Me to the End of Love." The tattoo artist who did this is unknown, but this is both one of Miley's most popular and most hated-on tattoos.
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Anniston only has one tattoo, and this is it. Normal was the name of her beloved dog that passed away in May of 2011. She decided to get it tattooed on her foot because Normal liked to sleep on top of her feet every night.
Lady Gaga
Gaga got this tattoo after Bowie died. According to her, he was one of her greatest inspirations. Shortly after she got this tattoo, she performed a tribute to Bowie at the Grammy's live, and this tattoo was a huge talking point.
Christina Ricci
Ricci got this caricature of a lion to represent her favorite book series from her childhood. This is Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan was supposed to be a "god-like" character that was all-knowing and compassionate.
Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa Hudgens doesn't have many tattoos, and this is the first one she got when she was just 22 years old. She was unhappy with the placement initially, but now she is proud that she put the tattoo in such a visible place. The name Vanessa means "butterfly" in Latin, which is why she decided to get this tattoo.
Justin Bieber
Bieber's tattoos largely don't have much meaning besides their aesthetic purposes and references to faith. This tattoo has a direct meaning as to how Bieber wants to live his life. The way he sees it, he wants everything in his life to be "better at 70." This tattoo is supposed to inspire Bieber to keep pushing on and succeeding in life, so by the time he's 70, he can look back and know that he lived a good life.
Lady Gaga
Gaga calls the creative team behind her outfits, music, and outlandish personality the "Haus of Gaga." So, to commemorate the hardworking individuals behind lady gaga's success, she got the word "Haus" tattooed on the back of her arm. Coincidentally, this was Lady Gaga's 20th tattoo.
Demi Lovato
Lovato got this tattoo to fill the gap on her forearm between her wrist and hand tattoos. She snapped this photo while she was still under the needle, but from what we can see, the tattoo artist did an exceptional job of making sure this tattoo is going to heal well. Apparently she got her back tattooed the same day, but she has yet to show the public that one.
Lily Collins
Collins got this tattoo to symbolize some seriously important ideologies that she learned while shooting "Love Rosie." The stem of the rose reads: "the nature of this flower is to bloom." the single pedal that is falling off of the rose is a symbol of strength, growth, and power in unlearning and building positive habits.
Sofia Richie
Sofia Richie has been getting super small tattoos because she's afraid that getting too many tats will negatively affect her modeling career. However, as the industry opens up a little more to alternative lifestyles, the tattoos she has will definitely pass the test. Of her many small, hidden tattoos, one of her most famous ones is this thumb tattoo that reads "MBR," an acronym for her brother, Miles Brockman Richie.
Kaia Gerber
Both of the Gerber siblings like getting inked up, and they've got the tats to prove it. This 18-year-old has quite a few tattoos, including flowers on her wrist, some dots and shapes around her body, a heart on her shoulder, and this little cherub on her ribs. Just like her brother, Kaia is getting more adventurous with her tattoo placements, each one she gets is a bit more public.
Amy Schumer
Schumer made a part of her career about his tattoo. She literally named her biography "The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo." Schumer likely feels more of a connection to this tattoo because of its placement and content other than any specific meaning that she wanted to put behind it when she got it. This is likely a tattoo from the tribal-tattooing craze that happened in the 1990s.
Miley Cyrus
The faded script that reads "Just Breathe" under Miley's left breast was her first tattoo. She got it when she was just 17 years old because one of her friends and both of her grandfathers died of lung cancer when she was younger.
Justin Bieber
Bieber got this "SONOFGOD" tattoo in a spur of the moment decision while he was out on tour in Italy. He passed by one of the highest-rated tattoo shops in Bologna, got this piece done in 45 minutes, and made it to the venue just in time for soundcheck. Bieber has recently covered all of his torso tattoos.
Carey Mulligan
Carey Mulligan got this tattoo after she auditioned to get the role she played in Shame. In the audition, she talked about her time playing the lead role in a stage performance of "The Seagull." This was such an impactful moment for Mulligan that she left the audition and decided to get this tiny seagull tattooed on her wrist. Soon after that, she got a call saying that she landed her role in Shame.
Kelly Osbourne
Osbourne has a ton of tattoos, two of which sit on either side of her temples. The two tattoos read "stories" and "solidarity" on their respective sides. These tattoos were meant to memorialize the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.
Amanda Seyfried
Seyfried got this raunchy tattoo with a friend to poke fun of American ignorance. Minge is a slang term for the word vagina in the UK. Seyfried and one of her best friends got this tattoo to match one another because the word "minge" doesn't mean anything to the American people.
Jessica Alba
Alba has this tiny Sanskrit tattoo on her inner wrist. When translated, this tattoo means "lotus," which typically signifies internal manifestation and rebirth through change. Alba got this tattoo after her first breakup a testament to her own inner strength.
Ruby Rose
Rose is pretty famous for having a ton of tattoos. This set of Pantone colors is one of her more recent additions to her collection. Evidently, Rose's tattoo artist got a ton of new colors that they wanted to try out, and Rose had a big space that she was willing to donate.
Ruby Rose
Rose has a couple of Basquiat tattoos, but this one (and the portrait of his face on her upper arm) is one of the most notable. She has an affinity with the dead artist's work and personality. Who wouldn't? Basquiat extremely talented and he revolutionized modern art for the Black artist, as well as the art sphere in general.
Kendall Jenner
Jenner got this tattoo one night when she was drinking. The script on the underside of her bottom lip reads, "Meow." Kendall doesn't regret getting this tattoo, even though it is goofy. Lip tattoos have a short shelf-life anyways.
Kylie Jenner
Kylie got this "t" tattooed on her ankle for her ex-boyfriend Tyga. That relationship didn't last, so she got the "t" switched around to read "la" in cursive. This cover-up is a creative one, and her tattoo artist was probably proud to be able to rework something this simple for her.
Rihanna
Rihanna got this shark tattoo after she went on a date with Drake to an aquarium in Toronto. Drake presented her with a large stuffed shark upon entry. The two didn't date each other for very long, but both of them got a shark tattoo to commemorate their time together.
Justin Bieber
Bieber got this bear tattoo on his chest right next to the Christian cross that was the first tattoo he got anywhere besides his arms and legs. The roman numerals above the bear represent his mother's birth year. The bear is supposed to reflect Bieber's inner strength and his quest for confidence.
Selena Gomez
While Selena Gomes was spearheading a campaign for female empowerment, she got this tiny Arabic script tattoo on her back. When translated, this tattoo reads "love yourself first." Selena Gomez has not said anything about having any other tattoos.
Kylie Jenner
Jenner has quite a few tiny red tattoos. This one is the name of her grandmother, which is written in her grandfather's handwriting. Jenner kept this tattoo a secret from the media until she finally cracked and decided to talk about it.
Megan Fox
Throughout her career, Fox has gotten quite a few tattoos removed. To respect her and her decisions, we will not be speaking about the removed tattoos. This one right here is one of the few tattoos that she chose to keep. It's a quote from Shakespeare's "King Lear" that reads: "we will all laugh at gilded butterflies."
Brooklyn Beckham
Brooklyn Beckham is a famous photographer, so naturally, he got a portrait of an old film camera. Beckham didn't come from money, but he did have a serious eye for the arts. With patience, practice, and persistence, he was able to make a photography career possible.
Demi Lovato
Celebrities are allowed to get tattoos that don't have any meaning too, right? Lovato has gone out and said that this little smiley face on her pinky was just for fun. She stated, "Life's too short not to tattoo your pinky."
Johnny Depp
Of all of Johnny Depp's tattoos, he loves this one the most. This tattoo represents the "divine trinity." This is a spiritual nod to Johnny's deep connection with the significance of numbers. Of the significant prime numbers, Johnny feels a deep connection with the number 3.
Kylie Jenner
Kylie got this tattoo when she was dating Tyga earlier on in her career and life as a socialite. According to her, Tyga pressured her into getting this tattoo to signify their love. However, Tyga's team, and Tyga himself, deny that this ever happened.
Justin Bieber
Bieber got this tattoo after Michael Jackson died. The crown is supposed to be a nod to the fact that Jackson was the "King of Pop." Bieber credits Michael Jackson as one of his greatest influences throughout his career.
Lady Gaga
This script tattoo has a fairly complex meaning. Gaga was really into German literature for a while, and when translated, this tattoo reads: "In the deepest hour of the night; Confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write; And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots, the answer; and ask yourself, must I write?" This is a quote from a book titled "Letters to a Young Poet" by a man named Rainer Maria Rilke.
Kesha
Ke$ha has a ton of trippy tattoos, but this pink whale might be one of the most "far out." According to Ke$ha herself, the pop star wants to get many more vibrant sea creatures tattooed on her body. She just thinks psychedelic fish and aquatic mammals are fun.
Sara Hyland
Hyland only has one tattoo, and it's this portrait of a hummingbird. Hummingbirds, to Hyland, represent lightness and independence. She wants to remember to embody that feeling daily, hence the tattoo.