person
Unicode: 1F9D1
Description
A yellow circular face with a standard, neutral expression.
Group:
People & Body > person
Status:
fully-qualified
Emotion:
Typically represents a generic person, a human, an individual. It does not convey any specific emotion but serves as a placeholder for a human being in general.
Backstory
This emoji was introduced in Unicode 10.0 (2017) as part of a set of profession or role emojis, alongside older, more specific gendered figures. Its primary function is to serve as a gender-neutral and skin-tone-neutral base for various human representations, allowing for subsequent customization with skin tone and gender modifiers for more specific contexts. It was a step towards greater inclusivity and flexibility in emoji representation.
Usage Examples
- Representing anonymity: 'Who's there? 👤'
- Referring to a general human: 'Every person needs a home. 👤'
- As a base for modifiers (though the base itself is neutral): '👤 + 👩🏻⚕️ (woman health worker)'
Cultural Differences
Western culture:
Often used to represent a general person, as a placeholder for a 'human being', or as a neutral starting point before applying gender or skin tone modifiers.
East Asian culture:
Similar usage to Western culture, representing a generic individual or a human figure in various contexts.