I write online for a living but I have to be perfectly honest. It doesn’t always pay the bills and put food in the cupboards. I supplement my income by selling body jewelry online. I love body jewelry and I love body piercings. There are just so many great options out there when it comes to body piercings. Instead of focusing on all of the different body piercings out there – there are far too many to really get into in a single article, I decided it would be more interesting to look at the most popular body piercings for women and the most popular body piercings for men. I find it interesting to see how popular body piercings for men and women differ and I thought that would be interesting to look at. Just a quick note about how I came up with the lists. Piercings are ranked in order of the percentage of people that report having that piercing. I prefer eyebrow and lip piercings over most other piercings but I felt it wasn’t entirely fair to go on personal preference. I also excluded stats for earlobe piercings as these particular piercings would’ve been number one in both categories and where’s the fun in that. If you’re curious though, earlobe piercings remain the most popular body piercing by rather wide margin with 83% of Americans reporting they either have or have had their ear lobes pierced. Now, with all that out of the way, let’s move on to what you came here for – the most popular body piercings for men and women.
The Most Popular Body Piercings for Women
I was a little surprised by some of these numbers, to be honest. I thought nipple and tongue piercings would be higher and eyebrow piercings would’ve made the list over non-lobe ear piercings. I guess you learn something new every day. For the record, eyebrow piercings came in at number 6 on the list with 8% of women reporting having their eyebrow pierced. Eyebrow piercings were followed by lip piercings (4%) and genital piercings (2%) to land in the 7th and 8th spots in terms of popularity.
05: Nipple (9%)
Nipple piercings are incredibly popular among women and men for a variety of reasons. Nipple piercings offer a variety of options in terms of body jewelry and allow a person to easily conceal their piercings when they want to. That isn’t easy to do with facial piercings. In addition, many just feel nipple piercings are sexy and report more sensitive nipples after the piercing is in place although feedback I’ve heard is mixed.
image via psychforums.com
04: Tongue (9.5%)
Out of all the piercings we’re going to talk about, the tongue piercing is the one I’d most list to have but haven’t yet tried. If you’re considering a tongue piercing though, you should be aware that tongue piercings need to be taken care of properly. It’s something you should really think through and do your homework on before you opt to get it done. I’ve known a lot of people that have gotten it done on a whim and have regretted the decision fairly quickly. If you think it through and understand what you’re getting into in terms of allowing your piercing to properly heal though, a tongue piercing might be a great idea.
image via tumblr.com
03: Non-Lobe Ear Piercing (13%)
I like non-lobe ear piercings because they’re something a little different without necessarily being completely outrageous. I think they’re a great option for those who want to step outside of their comfort zone and experiment with body piercing without taking it too far. There are also a lot of great options out there for non-lobe ear piercing in terms of body jewelry with many stunning pieces you can choose from, My personal favorite was a skull and dagger piece. The dagger was like a normal stud but the back was fitted with a piece that looked like the tip of the dagger while the front of the stud looked like the handle of the dagger so it looked as if it was going through the earlobe. The top piece was a simple silver skull stud that went through a cartilage piercing. The dagger and skull were connected by a lightweight silver chain. There are many other variations on this theme as well or you could simply go with matching studs (or better yet, contrasting studs!) in your lobe and your non-lobe piercing.
image via nose-rings-guide.com
02: Nose (19%)
I was surprised to see nose piercings so high on this list. While nose piercings were fairly common once upon a time, I haven’t seen them nearly as much in recent years. I can see why they’re so popular though. You have a lot of options (stud on one nostril, hoops, septum piercings etc) when it comes to the nose and a wide variety of jewelry options. That is always appealing. Of course, nose rings also look great on a variety of people which also helps make them more appealing and more popular. Not everyone can pull off an eyebrow ring, a belly button ring or a lip ring but nearly everyone can pull off a nose ring.
image via commons.wikimedia.org
01: Navel (33%)
I was not surprised in the least to see the navel topping the list of the most popular body piercings for women. Belly button rings are sexy, flirty and are a great accessory for a bikini at the beach. Aside from eyebrow studs, belly button rings are by far the most popular body jewelry item I sell. While I don’t have my own belly button pierced and never intend to change that, my husband has made it very clear it is the piercing he’d most like me to get. Take from that what you will.
The Most Popular Body Piercings for Men
There are a lot of differences between the most popular body piercings for men and the most popular body piercings for women but I don’t think that’s really all that unexpected. While naval piercings are the most popular piercing for women it doesn’t even crack the list for men. The only real surprise here for me was, once again, the lip piercing. I see so many men with lip piercings that I really expected it to rank higher. Instead, lip piercings landed in the same spot on the men’s list as they did on the women’s list although there is one difference worth noting. Only 4% of women reported lip piercings while 13% of men have a lip piercing. Men take a slight edge in the genital piercing department as well with 3% of men claiming pierced private parts over the female team’s 2%. Where else do they differ? Let’s look.
image via tumblr.com
05: Nose (15%)
While some still seem to believe nose piercings are too feminine for the average man to rock, that simply isn’t the case. There are lots of masculine nose piercings out there manly men can take advantage of. As recognition of that grows, so do does the popularity of nose piercings among men. I now see more men with nose piercings than women and while the stats don’t reflect that quite yet, I’m sure they will before long.
*Question: Anyone happen to know who this guy is? Actor? Musician? Random internet guy? I’m married an all but holy, holy that is one good looking man. Just curious. Hit the comments section if you know.
image via sixthseal.com
04: Tongue (16%)
While the tongue piercing is certainly a popular option among men, I was a little surprised it only managed to make number 4 on the list. I thought it would’ve at least been higher ranked than the non-lobe ear piercing but the numbers don’t lie. Much like with women, I’d caution men who are considering this option to think before they pierce. Tongue piercings take a lot of care and need to be treated properly while they heal. Give it a little thought before you go for it.
image via piercingtime.com
03: Non-Lobe Ear Piercing (17%)
As I mentioned above, I’m surprised the non-lobe ear piercing is more popular among men than the tongue piercing but I guess I can see why. There are a lot of options to go with here, probably more than with the tongue piercing, and getting a non-lobe piercing can be more spontaneous than getting a tongue piercing.
image via nairaland.com
02: Eyebrow (17.5%)
I love eyebrow piercings on men. Hoops, studs – I don’t care. I think an eyebrow piercing on a guy is incredibly sexy. Choose an eyebrow ring that is bold but not too overpowering and you highlight your eyes in an edgy, interesting way. In my opinion, you can’t go wrong. Eyebrow rings look great on any guy. If you’re curious, try it out. If you don’t like it, you can always let it grow over.
image via forum.bodybuilding.com
01: Nipple (18%)
I find the fact that nipple piercings landed at number one (18% of men report having at least one nipple pierced) on this list almost as surprising as finding out belly button rings landed at number one on the women’s list – which is no say I don’t find it surprising at all. Like a belly button ring on a woman, nipple piercings on a man are a great beach accessory. There is definitely something sexy about a guy with a nice body with pierced nipples. Can every guy pull off the pierced nipples look? Of course not, just like not every woman can pull off the pierced belly button look but if you like it and you feel comfortable, do it! It’s your body, after all.
