Waving Hand emoji meaning

What does 👋 mean in messages?

Unicode calls this emoji “waving hand.” It can show the person, gesture, role, look, or action called waving hand.

Use 👋 for people, gestures, roles, identity, or physical actions. Unicode calls it “waving hand.” That name is a safe, neutral label when the social meaning is not clear.

For a wider view, browse people & body emoji, use the emoji meaning finder, or read the emoji meanings in context guide.

Example messages with 👋

Unicode construction and code points

This copyable emoji is a single-code-point emoji. It uses 1 core Unicode code point: U+1F44B waving hand sign.

Version and platform support

The waving hand emoji was introduced in Emoji 0.6 and is classified in the hand fingers open subgroup. This emoji has broad support on modern platforms, but its artwork can still differ substantially between vendors.

Names, keywords, and classification

The standardized name is “waving hand.” Search terms indexed for this entry include hand, waving. It belongs to People & Body and the hand fingers open subgroup. These labels help identify and find the character; they do not prove a sender’s intended tone.

Accessibility and clear wording

For alt text, start with “waving hand.” Use clearer words when the emoji is only decoration, a metaphor, or slang.

Do not use this emoji as the only carrier of an emergency, deadline, consent decision, medical instruction, or other high-stakes message. The character is standardized, but Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, and social platforms supply different artwork.