Ariana Grande no doubt is 27, only but she already has more tattoos than candles on her birthday cake, and with great meanings behind them all. The “Thank U, Next” singer is covered in tributes to her dogs, celestial designs, Harry Potter references, song lyrics and more designs, many of which were done by her go-to tattoo artist Girl Knew York.
We have compiled all of Grande’s tattoos and their meanings.
Family
“Bellissima” and “Babydoll”
She has “Bellissima” and “Babydoll” — both nicknames given to Grande by her late grandfather, Frank — on her ribs and middle finger, respectively.
561
Ariana inked 561, the area code for Boca Raton, Florida, where she grew up, on her thumb.
Hebrew letters
On another finger, Ariana has the Hebrew letters aleph, lamed and daled, which signify the 10th name in the 72 names of God, a Kabbalah teaching. Her brother Frankie Grande got a similar design at the same time; the two abandoned Catholicism in favor of the Judaism-based faith after learning about the Church’s stance against homosexuality.
Toulouse
One of the many cast of characters in the Grande family is her dog Toulouse. The pup is so important to the singer that she had her name added to her tattoo glove.
Celestial and Nature
Sun, Moon and Stars
In December 2018, the pop star celebrated being named Billboard’s 2018 Woman of the Year by getting a hand tattoo just after the awards show, during which she pronounced 2018 the best year of her career but the worst of her personal life.
The celestial design of a sun, moon and stars covers the back of the singer’s left hand; her grandmother Marjorie “Nonna” Grande even joined for the session, getting “Ciccio” (the Italian nickname for her late husband) tattooed on her finger.
Saturn
In November 2019, she added a Saturn to the planets on the back of her hand.
Crescent Moon and Stars
In November 2018, she added a crescent moon and stars on her left foot. She has another crescent moon on the left side of her neck, which was a reference to her song “Moonlight” off her third album, “Dangerous Woman.”
Vine
Covering up a Harry Potter-related “9 3/4” tattoo for unknown reasons, Grande now sports a vine around her index finger.
Butterflies
At the 2020 Grammys, Grande shut the red carpet down in an oversized Giambattista Valli blue dress exploding in layers of tulle and ruffles. Above her opera-length gloves, she debuted new butterfly tattoo on her upper arm. A few months later, Ari added a second butterfly just underneath.
Flower
On Ariana’s birthday in June 2020, friend Markell Malcolm posted a photo revealing a flower design on the star’s palm. It can also be seen in her new “Positions” music video and appears to be a sakura flower.
Laurel leaves
Around her wrist, completing her left hand glove, is a laurel leaf design, accented with dots.
Anime and Movies
Eevee
At the start of 2019, Ariana revealed a giant portrait of the Pokémon Eevee on her upper arm. “I’ve wanted this for so long,” Grande captioned her Instagram snap, shortly after revealing she played the game on her Nintendo Switch “for fifteen hours.”
Chihiro
On Aug. 29, 2018, she revealed a large tattoo of Chihiro, a character from “Spirited Away,” on the inside of her right arm. “Chihiro’s growth into a capable individual is a core factor to the movement of Spirited Away‘s plot,” Grande wrote on her Instagram Story at the time.
“During her adventure in the Spirit World, she matures from an easily-scared girl with a child-like personality to match her age to a hard-working, responsible and brave young girl who has learned to put her fears aside for those she cares for.”
In perhaps the most telling line, Grande also wrote: “To protect her friends and rescue her parents from a spell that has turned them into livestock, Chihiro sheds her former personality and adapts to her environment to become a courageous, quick-witted and reliable girl.”
Lumos
Ariana is obsessed with “Harry Potter.” She has the word “Lumos” (a light-conjuring spell from the book series) inked on her hand.
Truman Show Quote
On June 20, 2019, Ariana cemented her love of Jim Carrey with a quote from “The Truman Show” on the back of her left shoulder, written upside down. It reads, “In case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight!”
Music
“Let’s Sing”
She rang in 2019 by getting the words “let’s sing” inked in Japanese just above her elbow, which revealed her plan to release even more music — even though her album “Sweetener” only dropped in August. Later, her “Thank U, Next” album release shocked the world one month later.
R.E.M
In a nod to her “Sweetener” track of the same name, Ariana has the dreamy letters inked behind her ear.
Honeymoon
On her fingers, Grande has the word “honeymoon,” a reference to her song “Honeymoon Avenue.”
Heart
Grande’s first-ever tattoo was a heart on the second toe of her right foot, which she acquired in 2012 when she turned 18 years old. It’s a reference to her song “Tattooed Heart” off of the album “Yours Truly.”
“7 Rings”/ Japanese BBQ Grill
What was intended to be an ode to her single turned out to be a nightmare for Grande. In early 2019, Ariana showed off a painful hand tattoo of Japanese kanji letters that was meant to translate to “7 Rings.”
However, social media immediately blew up when native speakers realized that because of the placement of the characters, the actual translation added up to “Japanese BBQ grill” or “tiny charcoal grill” in English.
Grande went back to her artist more than once to fix the error, adding a heart to round out the design and correct its meaning. The intended message is only clear if you read (uncustomarily) from top to bottom then left to right.
She tweeted (and later deleted) a rant at the end of the controversy. “I can’t read or write kanji obviously. what do you want me to do? it was done out of love and appreciation. what do you want me to say?” She continued, “u kno how many people make this mistake and DON’T care just cause they like how it looks? bruh … i care soooo much. what would you like me to do or say? forreal.”
SWT
In December 2019, at the culmination of her “Sweetener/Thank U, Next” world tour, Grande and her team got matching tattoos on their hands to commemorate the experience. While Ariana chose the shortened “SWT,” others got dates and numbers with unclear significance.
Pete Davidson tattoos
H2GKMO, Reborn, Cloud hand tattoos
View this post on Instagram
While dating Pete Davidson, Grande and her former fiancé showed their love for one another with multiple matching tattoos. The pair both got the acronym “H2GKMO” — which means “honest to god knock me out” — and the word “REBORN” on the side of their hands, along with matching cloud tattoos.
Always
Grande has the word “always” across her rib cage in what appears to be the “SNL” star’s handwriting, which is a reference to Lily Potter and Severus Snape’s love story in “Harry Potter.”
8418
She had the numbers 8418 (the badge number of the comedian’s firefighter father, who died on September 11) added across the top of her left ankle in June 2018.
Pete
She also got “Pete” tattooed across her left ring finger.
In the days following their split, Grande and Davidson both went to work covering up or altering their matching ink. Grande covered the hand tats with a floral olive branch leaf. She also replaced the late Mr Davidson’s badge number with “Myron,” the name of her dog, whom she co-adopted with ex-boyfriend Mac Miller and who now lives with her full-time following the rapper’s death.
After Grande released her “Thank U, Next,” music video, fans also noticed that she’d inked a black heart over her “Pete” finger tattoo. It is unclear whether she has altered (or plans to alter) her cloud tattoo.
In March 2019, Grande evolved her “always” tattoo by adding a creeping leaf design horizontally across her rib cage.
Other
Lightning bolt and black heart
Behind her ear, the pop star has three small tattoos — R.E.M, a tiny black heart (which Pete Davidson’s rep told Page Six he later copied) and a lightning bolt, likely a reference to “Harry Potter.”
“Mille Tendresse”
Her second tattoo was the French phrase “mille tendresse,” a line from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” which Davidson also copied.
Venus symbol
On the top of one of her fingers, Ariana has a Venus symbol, which denotes the female sex.
Manchester Bee
forever ☁️ pic.twitter.com/mI61BiF640
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 24, 2018
The most meaningful tattoo in Grande’s collection is the bee behind her left ear. She got the ink as a tribute to the 22 people who were killed during the May 22, 2017, terrorist attack at her “Dangerous Woman” show.
The symbol of Manchester, England, where the concert held, is the worker bee; Grande hosted the One Love Manchester benefit concert two weeks after the attack and later posted an emoji of the insect when she was made an honorary citizen of the city. She debuted the ink two days after the one-year anniversary of the attack.
Hi
Not all of her ink has such significance: Grande has the word “hi” on her toe.
Court
In dedication to childhood friend Courtney Chipolone, Ariana inked the word “court” on her knee as a play on words.
A
She also has the letter “A” on her thumb to honour friend Alexa Luria.
Heart
The outline of a heart on her right ring finger — which matches the one on her toe — is just one of many hand tattoos.
Baby
In May 2020, eagle-eyed fans spotted the word “baby” near the butterflies on Ariana’s upper arm, although it’s unknown exactly when she did it.
Mystery tattoos
As if more than 40 separate tattoos in 2020 weren’t enough, there are a scant few that fans have only partially seen. There are words on the inside of her right index finger, an unfilled shape on the inside of her left ankle and a string of letters or even words on her upper left thigh that are unaccounted for.
It’s also possible the singer has other tattoos at hidden parts of her body and maybe more are on the way.
