21 celebrities with tattoos that don't mean what you might think they do
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Whether they have a sleeve full of ink or micro tattoos, many celebrities have permanent body art.
Because stars are often photographed and appear onscreen, fans become familiarized with the tattoos and may think they understand the ink's meaning.
However, many celebrities have the tattoos for reasons that aren't overtly obvious to outsiders.
Like all people, celebrities can elect to get tattoos for a variety of reasons: memorialization, celebration, aesthetic — or for no specific purpose at all.
While fans can memorize each detail of a star's sleeve or micro tattoo, some celebrities' ink have backstories that outsiders would never know by just looking at the tattoo.
Stars like Rihanna, Emma Stone, and Dax Shepard have body art that doesn't mean what it may look like upon first glance.
Below are 21 celebrities that have tattoos with surprising meanings.
Rihanna's chest tattoo is a tribute to her late grandmother.
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
The singer honored her late grandmother by getting a chest tattoo of an Egyptian goddess.
In 2012, she shared an Instagram photo of the body art and wrote, "Goddess Isis - Complete Woman - Model for future generations - #GRANGRANDOLLY - always in and on my heart #1love."
Billboard reported that the goddess symbolizes "the eternal mother, friend to slaves, sinners and the helpless."
Halsey has a tattoo of an upside down horseshoe to remind her that she finds success through hard work — not luck.
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"In tattoo culture, you're not supposed to tattoo a horseshoe upside down because it means all the luck is spilling out, so it's actually bad luck," Halsey told iHeart Radio.
She continued, "I got an upside down horseshoe to signify that I don't need luck. I work really, really hard, and I believe in the stars aligning, but I don't believe that anything happens to anyone based out of sheer luck. I believe people work really hard, and they manifest what they want, and what they need, and what they're hopeful for, and that's what this is — a reminder."
Harry Styles told a fan that he got an imperfect mermaid tattoo "because everyone should love themselves and should not strive for perfection."
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The "Fine Line" singer has more than 40 tattoos, including a mermaid on his forearm. In a video from a book signing, a fan asked why the mermaid has "saggy boobs."
Styles replied, "Because everyone should love themselves and should not strive for perfection."
Hilary Duff's wrist tattoo was inspired by late actress Bette Davis.
Jim Spellman/WireImage; Dr. Woo/Instagram
The "A Cinderella Story" actress has a small wrist tattoo that reads "Take Fountain," a saying derived from a Bette Davis quote.
On an episode of "The Tonight Show," host Johnny Carson once asked Davis for the best method to break into Hollywood. She replied, "Take Fountain." She was referring to Fountain Avenue, a road in Los Angeles, California that was known for cutting through traffic.
Sam Smith got a replica of a tattoo found on a mummified body.
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In a 2015 Instagram post, Smith shared a photo of the parallel lines and wrote, "Second - this tattoo is inspired by one of the oldest tattoos ever found on a mummified body that was found buried alone in the ice."
Billie Lourd has a celestial ankle tattoo paying tribute to her late mother Carrie Fisher.
Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images; Billie Lourd / Instagram
Lourd revealed space-inspired ink on the outside of her ankle. The tattoo was seemingly in tribute to her late mother, "Star Wars" actress Carrie Fisher, who had a similar tattoo.
Emma Stone asked Paul McCartney to draw a tattoo of "Blackbird" feet to celebrate the news that her mother was cancer-free.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
To celebrate the news that her mother was cancer-free, Stone requested that the former member of The Beatles draw her two bird feet.
"My mom's favorite song is 'Blackbird,' and it's my favorite song as well," the actress explained on CBS's "The Late Show with David Letterman."
"I wrote a letter to Paul McCartney asking him if he would draw two little bird feet, because he wrote the song. And yesterday, he sent them to me."
Dua Lipa has a tattoo that says "Sunny Hill," which is the name of her parent's old neighborhood.
Dua Lipa/Instagram
The "New Rules" singer told Refinery29 that her arm tattoo of the words "Sunny Hill" is her favorite.
"It's the neighborhood my parents grew up in Kosova... [Sunny Hill] became the name of our foundation and then the name of our festival. It holds a special meaning for me."
The singer has many tattoos but said, "My Sunny Hill tattoo is always special. It takes me back to home and the reason why I do what I do."
Kelly Osbourne got a head tattoo that reads "Solidarity" to honor the victims of a mass shooting.
Kelly Osbourne/Instagram
Following the 2016 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Osbourne debuted a new tattoo on her head that reads "Solidarity."
She shared a photo of the ink on Instagram and wrote, "I have wanted to get this tattoo for a long time. The tragedy in Orlando devastated me and reminded me that every moment of our lives is precious. Every human is precious. Love hard. Live gracefully, authentically and with conviction, respect, purpose and compassion."
Jessica Alba got a tattoo in Sanskrit that translates to "lotus" following a breakup.
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On a 2016 episode of CBS's "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," Alba explained the tattoo on her wrist.
"That was called 'My First Breakup.' It's 'lotus' in Sanskrit. It means the manifestation of spiritual beauty. But he was really anti-tattoos, and I felt like after I broke up with him, I found myself again."
SZA has a back tattoo of symbols that "predate religion."
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images; Eva krbdk/ Havva Karabudak/Instagram
In December 2019, the singer shared an Instagram photo of her back tattoo that features a star containing six symbols. As her followers speculated the meaning behind the tattoo, she left the following comment to explain:
"Most of these symbols predate religion. Heart chakra symbol is def in the center, lotus on the bottom (grows from mud and is constantly unfolding and purifying as we all are), whole circle represents the one the infinite, clockwise spiral is the oldest known symbol n represents constant flow n transformation."
Kendall Jenner's tattoo artist said she asked for two white dots on the inside of her middle fingers because "it's the little things that matter."
Kendall Jenner has two small tattoos on the inner part of her fingers.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
JonBoy, the artist who gave her the tattoo, explained, "To her, it's the little things that matter. The white color was because she didn't want it to show with modeling and all that. It was a fun night."
She has since turned them into a full heart and a broken heart. "The one on my right hand is a full heart to represent an angel and my left is a broken heart — kind of like the devil side."
Miley Cyrus' first tattoo reads "Just Breathe" in memory of her late friend and grandfather.
Miley Cyrus / Instagram
The singer's mother, Tish Cyrus, drew the text for her first tattoo, which is on her rib cage.
Miley told Harper's Bazaar that the ink serves as a tribute to her close friend, who died of cystic fibrosis, and her grandfather, who died of lung cancer.
"It reminds me not to take things for granted. I mean, breathing — that was something none of them could do, the most basic thing, and I put it near my heart, because that is where they will always be," she told Harper's Bazaar.
Gisele Bündchen has a tattoo of a crooked star on her wrist in memory of her late grandmother.
SIMON MAINA / Getty Images
"It's a shooting star, for my grandmother," the model told Gatecrasher's Laura Schreffler.
"She died when I was young. When I first moved to New York, there were no stars in the sky, so to remind me of her I drew one on my wrist and kept it there for a month, and then had someone draw it in, which is why it's a little crooked. It's held up pretty well for 10 years. It helps me to remember her."
Angelina Jolie has the Roman numerals "XIII V MCMXL" on her forearm to commemorate one of Winston Churchill's speeches.
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The Roman numerals translate to 13/5/1940, which is the date Winston Churchill delivered a speech and said, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."
The actress also has the words "toil" and "tears" on the inside of her arms.
Nicole Richie said she regrets her "virgin" wrist tattoo, which she got because she's a Virgo.
Mark Sullivan / Getty Images
The former reality star told E! News, "It's embarrassing and desperate. Now, I am a Virgo so when I was 16 I thought, 'Oh I'm going to be different and I'm going to put virgin, because the Virgin is the sign for Virgo.'"
Richie shared that she regretted the body art and said, "I'd add an 'i'and an 'a' and say I'm from Virginia, but I just don't think people are going to believe me. So I'm just stuck."
Dax Shepard got a tattoo of a bell on his ring finger after marrying actress Kristen Bell.
Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images; Dax Shepard/Instagram
On a 2014 episode of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Shepard explained that he opted for the tattoo rather than a traditional wedding band.
"I don't like wearing jewelry, but I felt obliged to warn all the men that I'm taken," he said. "I thought a tattoo would be fitting. And her last name, conveniently, is an object I could tattoo."
Amanda Seyfried got a matching foot tattoo of a "term of endearment" with her "Mamma Mia" costars.
Charley Gallay/Getty Images; Mike Marsland/Getty Images
The actress joined her costars Rachel McDowall and Ashley Lilley to get matching foot tattoos that read, "Minge."
"It's a term of endearment," Seyfried said on an episode of NBC's "Late Night With Seth Meyers."
She continued, "But in England it means vagina. But in the US, where I spend most of my time, it just doesn't mean anything."
Selena Gomez's Arabic tattoo translates to "Love yourself first."
Mark Davis/Instagram
The tattoo was done by Bang Bang Tattoo owner Keith McCurdy, and Gomez wrote, "From my first to my last. It's always this fool." The artist shared that Gomez knew how she wanted the tattoo laid out when she arrived to the parlor.
After releasing her album "Rare," Gomez returned to Bang Bang Tattoo for more ink.
Ariana Grande revealed a neck tattoo of a bee to honor the victims from the 2017 bombing at her concert.
Ariana Grande/Twitter
Two days after the bombing at Grande's Manchester concert, the pop star showed a new tattoo of a bee behind her ear on Twitter and wrote, "forever." Twenty-two people died in the bombing, and many more were injured.
According to Billboard, "The bee has become a historic symbol of the city of Manchester, dating back to the Industrial Revolution when their factories were often nicknamed 'beehives' due to their busy productivity."
Lily Collins has a foot tattoo that says, "The nature of this flower is to bloom."
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The actress said, "Every time I walk or run, I look down at it, and I'm reminded that we're supposed to grow and be tested and challenged."
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