Heart Hands Emoji 🫶 & Gestures Explained

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Understand the 🫶 emoji and learn how to make heart hands
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Heart hands, also known as hand hearts, are a cute symbol of love and support. Whether you use the 🫶 emoji or make the gesture with your hands, you’ll be able to spread love and positivity with this iconic symbol. Curious what the 🫶 emoji means, or what the difference is between Millennial and Gen Z heart hands? Read on for a complete breakdown of heart hands.

Heart Hands Explained

The heart hands emoji (🫶) can be flirty, but it can also be a friendly sign of support or care. Do the gesture by making two mirrored C-shapes with your hands. Press your fingertips together. Point your thumbs down. Bend your fingers at the knuckles to form the top of the heart.

Section 1 of 6:

Heart Hands 🫶 Emoji Meaning

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  1. The heart hands (or hand heart) emoji expresses love and affection. It can be perceived as flirty when sent to a partner or crush. The emoji can also be a platonic symbol of love between family or friends. [1]
    • René Joythe proposed the heart hands emoji in 2019. It was approved under Unicode 14.0 in 2021. [2]
    • Joythe suggested the heart hands emoji gesture would combat the negativity of social media and mean comments. In the proposal, he wrote, “The Heart Hands are not only an alternative for a heart, they are a symbol for a better dealing with your fellow men.”
  2. On social media, people use the heart hands emoji to express their support for friends, celebrities, and things they like. Over text, it indicates support to the person receiving the emoji. While heart emojis may be seen as romantic, the heart hands emoji indicates more general positive emotions like care, respect, support, and good vibes. [3]
    • For example, a flirty text with the heart hands emoji could be, “Love you so much 🫶.” Platonically, a friend could text another friend, “Good luck with your interview! 🫶” to send support their way.
    • On social media, you might comment on a serious post, “I’m so sorry this happened. You’re in my thoughts 🫶.” On a post you want to support, you may comment, “This is amazing 🫶 great job!”
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Section 2 of 6:

Millennial, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha Heart Hands Explained

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  1. Millennials use either all their fingers or their thumbs and pointer (index) fingers to make heart hands. Gen Z only uses the middle and pointer fingers (the two fingers closest to the thumb). [4]
    • One viral TikTok posted by user @zoegrcee shows a cafe employee creating half a heart shape using her middle and pointer finger and asking coworkers to complete the gesture. She asks viewers to “Guess the millennial.”
      • The Millennial is the person who completes the gesture with their thumb and pointer finger.
    • Taylor Swift famously does Millennial heart hands. Fans also refer to it as “Fearless Heart Hands” because Swift frequently did the gesture while singing “Fearless” during the Eras tour. [5]
  2. This version of the heart hands gesture was popularized on TikTok and other social media. [6] It involves using your pointer fingers to form the top of the heart shape and connecting your middle fingers to form the heart’s bottom point.
    • On TikTok, user @laurahfritz posted a viral video explaining the difference between how Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha do hand hearts, also known as the heart hands gesture.
  3. The gesture is like an alternate version of Millennial heart hands. Instead of touching all the fingers on top and the thumbs on the bottom of the heart shape, only the pointer fingers and thumbs touch. The rest of the fingers point upward and inward above the heart. [7]
    • Many Gen Alpha people also do what’s known as Gen Z heart hands. Some even do Millennial heart hands.
    • Gen Alpha may also make Korean finger hearts, a gesture that involves pressing one thumb and pointer finger together. Various Korean celebrities have done the finger hearts gesture, boosting its popularity among younger generations since the 2010s. [8]
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Section 3 of 6:

How to Do Millennial Heart Hands

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  1. Start by bending and lifting your arms so your hands are in front of your chest. You don’t have to straighten your palms—just make sure your hands are turned so the palms are parallel.
  2. Move your thumbs away from the rest of your fingers to form the bottom of the C-shapes. Hold the rest of your fingers pressed together and bend them to form the tops of the C-shapes. Finally, touch the tips of your fingers and thumbs together like you’re making a circle with your hands.
    • Your palms should still be facing each other so that the C-shapes mirror each other.
    • If someone else is completing your heart hand gesture, only make one of your hands into the C-shape. Follow the rest of the steps to form half a heart and put your half next to the other person’s.
  3. Start by pointing your thumbs down so the pads of each thumb are pressing together and pointing downward. This is the tip of the heart shape. Bend your knuckles to point the tips of your fingers down and form the top of the heart shape.
    • Your fingernails should be pressing together at the top cleft of the heart.
    • To turn the gesture into Gen Alpha heart hands, simply lift all the top fingers except your pointer fingers so they’re above the heart.
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Section 4 of 6:

How to Do Gen Z Heart Hands

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  1. Hold them at chest- or neck-level. Ensure your palms are facing each other. Let your hands sit naturally—they don’t have to be straight or flexed.
  2. Start by lifting your pointer fingers and lowering your middle fingers down while straightening them. They should look like less than (<) and greater than (>) signs. Press them together at the tips to create a diamond shape.
    • Curl your ring and pinky fingers and your thumbs so they’re not in the way of the diamond shape. They’ll be below the bottom half of the diamond shape.
  3. Lightly touch the pointer fingers’ fingernails together while bending at the knuckles. Your middle fingers may bend when you do this—that’s okay. Try to hold them in place. You’ve now made the Gen Z heart hand shape!
    • Once you bend your pointer fingers, it may feel more comfortable to let your thumbs hang down instead of curling them inward.
    • To do the Gen Z heart hand gesture with another person, repeat these steps on only one hand to create half a heart. Press your half to theirs to complete the gesture.
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Section 5 of 6:

How to Do Korean Finger Hearts

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  1. The Korean finger heart gesture only requires one hand. Choose either your right or left hand, and hold it up in front of your chest. Position your hand so the palm is facing you. Bend your fingers to your palm to make a fist. [9]
  2. Start by bending your fist at the wrist so it leans away from your chest. Lift the thumb and index (pointer) finger up from the fist. Cross them at the first knuckle so the thumb is pointing slightly to the right and the index finger is pointing slightly to the left. From the first knuckle up, your fingers should resemble the silhouette of a heart.
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Section 6 of 6:

Other Popular Heart Symbols

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  1. A symbol of a heart in the palm, or a hand holding a heart, is associated with charity and love. It’s also associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal society. [10]
  2. Waze displays a pin showing two hands cupping a heart to indicate open shelters during natural disasters. They used the symbol in 2018 during Hurricane Florence. [11]
  3. In 1989, artist Maurizio Cattelan created a photograph titled Family Syntax in which he makes an upside-down heart hand gesture. He presses his palms against his heart with his fingers pointing down and his thumbs curling to form the top of the heart. His straight fingers make the bottom half of the heart. [12]
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      References

      1. ↑ https://www.the-sun.com/tech/7225374/what-does-the-hand-heart-emoji-mean/
      2. ↑ https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20211-hand-heart-emoji.pdf
      3. ↑ https://www.the-sun.com/tech/7225374/what-does-the-hand-heart-emoji-mean/
      4. ↑ https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/gen-z-millennial-heart-hand-gesture-b2140445.html
      5. ↑ https://www.thecut.com/2024/01/travis-kelce-taylor-swift-heart-hands-touchdown.html
      6. ↑ https://www.tiktok.com/discover/how-does-gen-z-do-heart-hands?lang=en
      7. ↑ https://www.dailydot.com/memes/gen-z-heart-hands-vs-millennials/
      8. ↑ https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_AE/inspiration/travel/brief-history-korean-finger-hearts.html
      9. ↑ https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_AE/inspiration/travel/brief-history-korean-finger-hearts.html
      1. ↑ https://streetsofsalem.com/2014/02/13/hearts-in-hand/
      2. ↑ https://x.com/waze/status/1040400491736428545?s=46&mx=2
      3. ↑ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/post_b_6561968

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