Meaning
This emoji portrays a classic mermaid: a female figure with long flowing hair, a bare or shell-covered torso, and a vibrant fish tail in shades of turquoise, purple, or iridescent hues. The tail features detailed scales and fins, creating an unmistakably magical underwater appearance.
It's the go-to emoji for anything related to mermaids—from gushing about The Little Mermaid to discussing ocean mythology and folklore. People use it when they're dreaming about the sea, planning beach trips, or channeling mermaid aesthetic vibes. You'll see it frequently in posts about fantasy, magic, and escapism, especially in contexts celebrating femininity and mythological power.
On a deeper level, the mermaid has become symbolic of freedom, mystery, and untamed nature. It's used ironically or sincerely to express a desire to escape reality or embrace a magical, carefree lifestyle. TikTok and Instagram users often deploy it in aesthetically curated ocean-themed content or mermaid-coded fashion posts.
The mermaid design is remarkably consistent across most platforms, though subtle differences exist in tail color and hair style. This emoji resonates strongly in Western pop culture due to Disney's influence, but mermaids appear across global mythology—from Scandinavian nixies to Asian water spirits. Approved as part of Unicode Emoji 5.0 in 2017, the mermaid has since become one of the most beloved fantasy emojis, appearing frequently in creative and escapist digital conversations.
Common Uses
- • Sharing love for The Little Mermaid or mermaid media
- • Expressing ocean and beach aesthetic vibes
- • Discussing fantasy and magical interests
- • Representing dreams of escape or freedom
Popular Combos
Did You Know?
The mermaid emoji became especially popular after the 2019 live-action remake of The Little Mermaid was announced, and its usage spiked dramatically during the film's release and surrounding cultural conversations.
Keywords
Skin Tones & Variants
Related Emoji
Technical Reference
Platform Shortcodes
:mermaid: :mermaid: :mermaid: Developer Codes
| HTML (decimal) | 🧜‍♀️ |
| HTML (hex) | 🧜‍♀️ |
| CSS | \1F9DC\200D\2640\FE0F |
| JavaScript | \uD83E\uDDDC\u200D\u2640\uFE0F |
| Python | \U0001F9DC\U0000200D\U00002640\U0000FE0F |
| Java | \uD83E\uDDDC\u200D\u2640\uFE0F |
| Perl | \x{1F9DC}\x{200D}\x{2640}\x{FE0F} |
| PHP / Ruby | \x{1F9DC}\x{200D}\x{2640}\x{FE0F} |
| Punycode | xn--2rx8-6bx-7k0-1e6n |
| URL Encoded | %F0%9F%A7%9C%E2%80%8D%E2%99%80%EF%B8%8F |
| UTF-8 Bytes | 0xF0 0x9F 0xA7 0x9C 0xE2 0x80 0x8D 0xE2 0x99 0x80 0xEF 0xB8 0x8F |
🧜♀️ in 28 languages
Names sourced from Unicode CLDR and emojibase.
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Bengali | মারমেড |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 美人鱼 |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 美人魚 |
| Danish | havfrue |
| Dutch | sirene |
| English | mermaid |
| English (UK) | mermaid |
| Estonian | merineitsi |
| Finnish | merenneito |
| French | sirène |
| German | Meerjungfrau |
| Hindi | मत्स्यकन्या |
| Hungarian | sellőlány |
| Italian | sirena donna |
| Japanese | マーメイド |
| Korean | 여자 인어 |
| Lithuanian | undinėlė |
| Malay | ikan duyung |
| Norwegian | havfrue |
| Polish | kobieta syrena |
| Portuguese | sereia |
| Russian | женщина-русалка |
| Spanish | sirena |
| Spanish (Mexico) | sirena |
| Swedish | sjöjungfru |
| Thai | เงือก |
| Ukrainian | русалка |
| Vietnamese | nàng tiên cá |