These Celebrities Have All Shared the Stories Behind Their Tattoos

Maisie Williams

After wrapping up shooting the very last season of Game of Thrones, Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark, took to her Instagram story to post a behind-the-scenes shot of her trip to the tattoo parlor.

In the post, she wrote "guess who is getting 'No One' tattoo" — "no one" referring to a quote from the series, related to her character's journey to become a faceless assassin."It's just a quote from last season," Turner told James Corden on The Late Late Show in June. "Everyone figures that the pack really does survive, but it's just a moral that I like to live by."

Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt

OK, this is actually kind of heartbreaking. Apparently, in February 2016, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt got tattooed together in Cambodia by ex-Thai monk Ajarn Noo Kanpai, who used the same ink and matching patterns on the couple — something that was supposed to "symbolically bind them as husband and wife." 

They were tattooed in a traditional method using a single long handheld needle. Jolie got sacred Buddhist markings on her upper back, while Pitt reportedly got Buddhist symbols on his stomach.

As you probably already know, Pitt and Jolie split later that same year.

Angelina Jolie

Jolie also has the coordinates of where all of her children were born, along with Pitt's birthplace, on her upper arm. The piece also serves as a cover-up of the prior tattoo, which was a dragon and the name "Billy Bob," in honor of her ex-husband, Billy Bob Thornton.

She has several other tattoos, including one with a Buddhist symbol for "protection" dedicated to her oldest son, Maddox, on her lower back. 

Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato is no stranger to tattoos (she has nearly 30) and debuted this adorable little guy in August 2016. "Cause life's too short not to tattoo your pinky," she captioned the Instagram shot. 

We're guessing this dainty tat is a cute way for Lovato to remind herself to keep smiling. 

Miley Cyrus

Colorful pop singer Miley Cyrus is known for having some serious ink, and her tattoo collection got a teeny bit bigger when she added this simple etch of "DAD" on her foot on March 18, 2017. Billy Ray Cyrus posted this photo of his daughter's sweet tribute to him on his Twitter page with the caption, "This may be the best Tattoo i've ever seen @mileycyrus."

Casper Smart

Jennifer Lopez's ex Casper Smart got this tat one month after their split. It reads, "You must embrace the darkness to see the light."

Kendall Jenner

Turns out Kendall Jenner was drunk when she got the word "meow" tatted on the inside of her lip.

"I was not thinking clearly," Jenner admitted to Ellen DeGeneres in March. "It was literally the first thing that came to my mind. I don't know, just my drunk thoughts."

Johnny McDaid

Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid got Courteney Cox's initials tatted on his wrist, clearly as a tribute to their relationship. The on-again, off-again couple were engaged in June 2014 but called it off after a year and broke up. In May 2016, they rekindled their romance and are clearly back on; McDaid got the tat in September 2016.

Sophie Turner

During the 2016 Emmys, Sophie Turner showed off her tattoo, which reads "07.08.09." She and Game of Thrones costar Maisie Williams got it not only as a tribute to their friendship but also because it's the day they were both cast on GoT.

Paris Jackson

Paris Jackson recently revealed an epic tribute to her late father, Michael Jackson: The word "Bad" tattooed on her hand in the same font used for Michael's single when it came out back in the '80s.

Her right hand also pays tribute to other musical inspirations in her life. She has a red thunderbolt on her pinkie in remembrance of David Bowie, Prince's purple symbol on the outside of her hand, and a "VH" on her pointer finger for Van Halen.

Judi Dench

Dame Judi Dench revealed she got some ink to commemorate a special milestone in her life in December 2015: She now has "Carpe diem" tattooed on the inside of her wrist.

"That’s my motto: Seize the day," she said in an interview with Surrey Life magazine. "My daughter Finty gave it to me for my 81st birthday — she’s wonderful with surprises… Mind you, the company of A Winter's Tale, which I was doing at the time, used to say that it said fish of the day." 

Lena Dunham

Girls star Lena Dunham has several pieces dedicated to children's books, including the two houses from Eloise on her back.

She also has a Yorkshire Terrier on her ribcage, which was given to her by costar Jemima Kirke. "It hurt like a mother f***er and took over an hour," Dunham said of the session with Kirke.

Benji Madden

Rocker Benji Madden is obviously no rookie when it comes to tattoos, but in 2015 he got a fresh piece dedicated to his new wife, Cameron Diaz.

"Thinking bout you #luckyman," Madden captioned the Instagram pic in which he debuted the new tat.

Katy Perry

Katy Perry and her now-ex-husband, Russell Brand, had anuugacchati pravaha, Sanskrit for "go with the flow," tattooed on their arms when they were still together.

Travis Barker

There's not much space on the Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker's body that isn't tatted up, but two tattoos on his thighs hold extra-special meaning: They are dedicated to DJ AM and Chris Baker, close friends who died in a 2008 plane crash that also badly injured the rocker.

Selena Gomez

 Selena Gomez has "love yourself first" tattooed on her back in Arabic. 

Rihanna

Rihanna has "Never failure. Always a lesson" under her right clavicle, but that's not the most interesting thing about the tattoo. According to the singer, she had it written backward so she could read it in the mirror.

"It's basically saying that it's OK to make a mistake. Just don't make them twice," she said in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres.

Lady Gaga

Mother Monster has a lot of interesting body art, but what's most captivating is the reason why, until recently, parts of her weren't tattooed.

In a 2011 interview, she was on record as saying that she only tattooed one side of her body at her father's request. "He asked that I remain, on one side, slightly normal," Lady Gaga said during a Google interview (and as later reported by The Daily Mail) of her father's request to leave the right side of her body tattoo-free. "I think he sees (my right) as my Marilyn Monroe side and he sees (my left) as my Iggy Pop side."

Taye Diggs

File this one under "adorable." Diggs proudly displays his son Walker's artwork on his arm.

"My little dude wrote 'I love daddy' a couple months ago," the actor told HuffPost Live in June 2015. "It's going to be there forever. It's my favorite tattoo."

Victoria Beckham

In honor of the sixth anniversary of her wedding to David Beckham, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham inked the Hebrew quote "Ani ledodi vedodi li haro'eh ba'shoshanim." The words, which were taken from the Old Testament, translate to "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine, who grazes among lilies."

Megan Fox

Megan Fox's Shakespearean tattoo reads "We will all laugh at gilded butterflies" and means "to not get too caught up in Hollywood because people will end up laughing at you," the actor said.

Ryan Gosling

The claw shape under Gosling's elbow "is supposed to be a monster's hand dropping a bloody heart, but I did it myself with a tool kit, so it looks like a cactus," he said. 

Lori Petty

"I started from the wrist up 20 years ago," Orange Is the New Black actor Lori Petty told Pen & Ink of her arm tattoos. "Basquiat's 'Diagram of the heart pumping blood' is my reminder with this temporary body to live and love with every heartbeat," she said of one work in the series of her body art.

Emma Stone

Emma Stone's tattoo of bird feet on the inside of her wrist is special for two reasons. One, it was designed by Sir Paul McCartney, and two, it was inked in honor of her mother's recovery from breast cancer.

"My mom's favorite song is 'Blackbird,'" Stone said in an interview with Dave Letterman. "I wrote a letter to Paul McCartney asking him if he would draw two little bird feet."

Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson revealed in the documentary Tyson that he got his tribal face tattoo to honor his own "warrior spirit," like Polynesian, Maori and Samoan warriors.

Lea Michele

The tiny musical notes on Glee star Lea Michele's shoulder are reportedly from Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." She also has "If you say so" — the last words her late Glee costar and real-life boyfriend, Cory Monteith, ever said to her — tattooed on her ribcage. 

Lea Michele

Michele's next addition was on April 12, 2016. The 5 represents the jersey number that Monteith's character, Finn Hudson, wore on Glee. "And one more.. for my quarterback.." she tweeted with the photo, adding a heart emoji.

Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj originally planned to have the words "God is with me always" tattooed on the back of her neck in Chinese, but she rethought the placement after finding that getting ink in that area would be too painful.

"I wish I never got the tattoo, because it's on my arm," Minaj said in an interview with Billboard magazine.

Jennifer Lawrence

Lawrence has a barely visible tattoo of "H2O" on her hand, which she considers a mistake.

"I call this tattoo a watered-down rebellion, 'cause it's not like a real tattoo," she said at Comic-Con, according to Nylon. "I was with Liam's family and everybody was getting tattoos, and I was like, well, I'm always going to need to be hydrated so I guess I should just get H2O on my hand."

David Beckham

Beckham's "99" pinky tattoo is a sweet tribute to the year he married his wife, Victoria Beckham.

"99 was a good year for me," he wrote on Instagram.

Adam Levine

Most of frontman Adam Levine's tattoos have a meaning behind them, but the "222" on his forearm has special historic value. It's the door number of the first studio that Maroon 5 ever recorded in.

Adam Levine

Levine debuted his massive mermaid back tat in November 2015. However, he didn't explain whether there was any meaning behind the ink.

Adam Levine

In February 2016, Levine posted an update to the massive piece he has on his back, expanding the piece and filling in details around the mermaid.

"6 months in the making. Thanks @bryanrandolph for absolutely blowing my mind with this one! Woooo hooooo!!!!" he captioned the Instagram picture.

Kylie Jenner

Kylie Jenner reportedly got the words "before sanity" tattooed on her butt cheek. According to TMZ, she wanted to "add new meaning to an old tattoo."

Jai Courtney

Suicide Squad's Jai Courtney revealed on Live With Kelly that his costar Margot Robbie inked his arm with the word "skwad." But he wasn't the only one. His castmates got the tattoo too — a permanent reminder of their time spent filming.

Tom Hardy

In an interview with Esquire, Tom Hardy said he made a bet with The Revenant costar Leonardo DiCaprio that he wouldn't get an Oscar nomination for his role in the film. Turns out, DiCaprio did, and Hardy definitely held up his end of the bargain.

On his arm, he has the words "Leo knows everything" in DiCaprio's "shitty" handwriting.