Emoji dictionary
👶 Baby emoji
[bey-bee ih-moh-jee]
What does 👶 Baby emoji mean?
Goo goo gaga … this cute wittle baby emoji signifies all things related to teeny tiny bundles of joy.
The baby emoji means someone is expecting a baby, just had a baby, has a cute baby picture to share, or is up all night caring for the crying little son of a … uh … perfect little angel. It can also be used in place of baby as a term of endearment for your bae.
Conversely, it is sometimes used as an insult when it signifies someone who is being childish or acting like a baby.
Where does 👶 Baby emoji come from?
The baby emoji shows a bright yellow baby face staring at you with wide eyes from under a single curl of hair. Samsung and Microsoft where nice enough to give their versions of the baby emoji a pacifier, while on Twitter and Facebook a single tooth indicates this emoji is teething … be prepared for some wailing.
Emojipedia
This yellow version was added to the Unicode Consortium in 2010. Five years later, the people and smileys category was updated to reflect the world’s racial diversity. Now the baby emoji now comes in a range of skin tones.
Examples of 👶 Baby emoji
Who uses 👶 Baby emoji?
Predictably, the baby emoji is mostly commonly seen in posts about babies. These posts include pregnancy announcements, pictures of newborn or young children, or announcements of the baby’s sex.
Janelle and Damazo 👶💙 pic.twitter.com/EiOTx145lz
— Brenda. (@bFloresss_) May 12, 2014
In fact, in 2017 rap artist Nicki Minaj set off a Twitter firestorm when she tweeted a single baby emoji and nothing else. It started intense speculation about what it could possibly mean. Was she pregnant?!?!?!?! She never explained …
👶🏽
— QUEEN (@NICKIMINAJ) July 11, 2017
When some people say “my baby,” they mean the furry four-legged variety. Pet owners use the baby emoji to show the world their canine companion or feline friend is one of the family.
When someone asks if I have kids 👶😸 #themeowlife {Via @HappyCatsOnline} pic.twitter.com/ucmGsY8xTH
— meowbox (@meowbox) September 28, 2018
On Snapchat, however, it has a very specific meaning. It is placed next to a contact to indicate you are new friends.
People in love often call each other baby, so the baby emoji also accompanies Tweets about significant others or people you wish were significant others.
mark with jaehyun !! 👶❤️ pic.twitter.com/ELBUf8BheU
— dream pic dump (@dream127pics) September 23, 2018
While the most common uses of this emoji are adorable and loving, it has a very different meaning when used as an insult to mean someone is being childish or foolish.
If you let social media get between you and the person you fw you just childish👶
— Lost Funeral (@PurpleKloudz) May 4, 2016
Critics of President Trump use the baby emoji plus the orange emoji as a nickname meant to insult both his skin tone and his behavior.
Fox hate preferment sponsors.
🍊👶🤥 pic.twitter.com/JRp4AhQXyF— Gregory Allen Newell (@Gregold99) September 27, 2018
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of 👶 Baby emoji like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of 👶 Baby emoji that will help our users expand their word mastery.