The Most Popular New Emojis of 2020

The Most Popular New Emojis of 2020

Of the 117 new emojis approved last month, Pinched Fingers, Transgender Flag, and Smiling Face With Tear were the most popular on social media.

Least popular? Bucket, Placard, and Elevator.

Above: Engagement on social media for new emojis announced last month. Image: Emojipedia.

An analysis of new emoji popularity has been created by Emojipedia by measuring the number of retweets each emoji received in Emojipedia's #Emoji2020 thread on Twitter.

The 117 new emojis for 2020 form part of Emoji 13.0 which was announced by the Unicode Consortium in January 2020.

Designs and rollout dates will vary by vendor, with most platforms expected to support the new additions in the second half of 2020.

Actual use of new emojis cannot be measured until after they have rolled out to major platforms, so these popularity numbers serve as an indicator of what may be frequently used when software updates come to phones in the second half of the year.

Above: Sample Images from Emojipedia of the 117 new emojis for 2020

What is clear from social media data is that communities often rally behind flags (despite their relatively low use for countries), and smileys and gestures are always some of the most popular additions. Given this, it's not a surprise to see the top entries being a gesture, a flag, and a smiley.

In that context, is the Disguised Face a dud? To rank between Lungs and Potted Plant doesn't bode well compared to the usual high rankings of smileys. Or does it just mean people didn't have much to say about it, but would in fact use it a lot?

Above: The most popular new emojis of 2020, as measured by social media retweets. Image: Emojipedia

What cannot be determined from this data is how social media engagement translates to real-world use, nor the effect of the category order of the Twitter thread had on the engagement numbers.

This data was measured for one week from the announcement of the final emoji list. Numbers are provided below.

EmojiRetweetsPopularity
Pinched Fingers1114623.5%
Transgender Flag1043722.0%
Smiling Face With Tears914619.3%
Bubble Tea14673.1%
Anatomical Heart13572.9%
Black Cat12162.6%
Man With Veil10202.2%
People Hugging9322.0%
Seal7591.6%
Polar Bear6291.3%
Woman In Tuxedo5561.2%
Worm5331.1%
Ninja5281.1%
Lungs5081.1%
Disguised Face4180.9%
Potted Plant3880.8%
Rock3870.8%
Cockroach3820.8%
Man Feeding Baby3320.7%
Tamale3220.7%
Dodo2720.6%
Magic Wand2570.5%
Beaver2470.5%
Mx Claus2340.5%
Bison2290.5%
Blueberries2120.4%
Person With Veil1970.4%
Woman Feeding Baby1780.4%
Person Feeding Baby1750.4%
Mammoth1730.4%
Feather1640.3%
Olive1610.3%
Person In Tuxedo1470.3%
Transgender Symbol1360.3%
Beetle1260.3%
Piñata1260.3%
Fly1260.3%
Fondue1190.3%
Wood1150.2%
Headstone980.2%
Bell Pepper960.2%
Teapot950.2%
Thong Sandal870.2%
Knot780.2%
Roller Skate750.2%
Flatbread720.2%
Accordion660.1%
Sewing Needle640.1%
Nesting Dolls610.1%
Toothbrush540.1%
Mirror520.1%
Plunger490.1%
Military Helmet480.1%
Coin450.1%
Hut420.1%
Boomerang420.1%
Pickup Truck410.1%
Mouse Trap410.1%
Ladder390.1%
Long Drum350.1%
Carpentry Saw340.1%
Window330.1%
Hook320.1%
Screwdriver310.1%
Bucket290.1%
Placard250.1%
Elevator240.1%