I was curious to find out what the most popular tattoos are for people who get tattoos.  Not because I want one, but because I’m fascinated by what images people would like enough to have them permanently embedded on their bodies.  I can hardly decide on artwork to hang on my wall, let alone images that I would want carved into my skin.

So, the most popular tattoos based on online research and tattooists in parlours are:

1. Star tattoos
2. Angel tattoos
3. Tribal tattoos, including Maori, Polynesian and Haida styles (I have never even heard  of Haida before–have you?)
4. Flower Tattoos
5. Celtic tattoos
6. Swallow tattoos
7. Butterfly tattoos
8. Kanji tattoos
9. Black & Gray tattoos (based on prison styles)
10. Lower Back tattoos, which aren’t really a particular style as much as a location.

I think someone should make a documentary about tattoos and why people get them, in particular why women get tattoos on their lower backs and choose to get tattoos of symbols that they can’t read without an interpreter.

Why would someone from, say, Idaho, who’s not a Pacific Islander and has no Pacific Islander ancestry, want to get a Maori tribal tattoo?  Nothing against Maoris, but where would someone whose ancestors all came from England or Germany or Ireland have ever come across Maori tribes and said "wow, I’ve got to get me one of those tattoos"?  Just curious…