Top 10 Trending Lettering Tattoos for Women’s

If a picture of a fleeting moment is worth a thousand words, a well-worded (and permanent!) tattoo design speaks at the highest volume. Illustrations aren’t everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to body art. Some are more inclined towards elegant wording and meaningful phrases as tattoos. Plus, simple letter tattoos can be placed in visible areas for daily reminders of sentiment, inspiration, and strength. While there are no rules to body inscriptions—or any body art, for that matter—there are some tips to ensure that you’re inking a statement worthy of repeating, over and over again.

Clever Case

Clever placement can create a fun interplay between words, as with influencer and Byrdie contributor Alyssa Coscarelli’s “try/not try” ink on opposite forearms. Because the body shifts and changes shape over time, you may want to place your word or phrase tattoo somewhere that’s less likely to experience variations due to weight fluctuations or aging.

Side of the Neck Script

Tiny, fine line tattoos on the side of the neck are hotter than ever thanks to major inspo from Hailey Bieber. We love this dainty, red ink rendition.

Storybook Prose

Incorporating words into a design can totally change or amplify the meaning. Here, a dessert illustration by Mira Mariah gets a winking nod to Alice in Wonderland with the addition of “eat me.”

Bold Type

The inner wrist and forearm can be a great place for a word or phrase tattoo that you want to serve as a reminder to yourself, rather than a message to others, like this Post Malone lyric inked by the artist Ghinko.

Hidden Ink

Word tattoos can also go between the fingers for a truly subtle placement. Due to all the bones in your hands, this can be a more painful place to get inked, so keep that in mind.

Artsy Doodles

We love this casual doodle effect on Zoe Kravitz’s wrist and hand. The different words and symbols may or may not be connected or particularly meaningful, but they give off a cool, nonchalant vibe.

Consider the inner wrists and ankles as safe bets for word tattoos. They will also allow you to read them on a daily basis, which is sort of the point.

Behind the Ear Script

Tuck a word or phrase behind the ear, like with this elegant script by artist Joanna M. Roman. “I think the number one rule [of word tattoos] is to think of something that’s meaningful to you and will survive time (i.e. I strongly discourage your partner’s name),” says Jeremie Lahmi, the founder of tattoo care brand People of Substance.

Inner Arm Script

If you want your ink to be visible to others, aim to make it readable from at least 10 inches away. The letters should be large enough so that as your skin changes, sags, or shifts, your tattoo is still easy to read and resembles a word rather than a blob of ink.

Single Letter Glory

You can always go super minimalist with a single meaningful letter, like Selena Gomez has done with the lower-case cursive “g” behind her left ear.

Floral Cursive

Tattoo artist, Ghinko, turns the word here (the client’s mother’s name) into an elegant stem for a gorgeous flower illustration, giving us another great example of how to weave the words into the design.