When you take all the people getting tattooed in the United States, it may surprise some that men and women are only a couple of percentage points apart for who gets inked the most. Of all men of all ages in America, 15 percent have tattoos, while of all women of all ages, 13 percent get tattooed.

With women entering the tattooing craze, they have taken the butterfly as the favorite symbols to be tattooed on their bodies; the reason it's among the leading tattoo designs requested.

Don't let that fool you though, as even though the butterfly is so popular as a tattoo choice, it comes in an extraordinary variety, designs, color and sizes, which women respond to by having put in a variety of places on their bodies; and in fact - almost anywhere.

Try some temporary butterfly tattoos to see if it's for you, or just for fun on any given night.

I really do recommend trying out a temporary tattoo if you've never had one before. Place a butterfly where you want it on your body and get a feel for if you would want if permanent or not.

Included below are some fun temporary butterfly tattoos for you to try if you want to go that way first. You really should try something like that first to avoid any regrets later.

Some of the more popular butterfly designs are large butterflies put on the back; tribal butterfies; celtic butterflies (some guys like these); small butterflies; and maybe the favorite for those covering a larger portion of their body - the scrolling butterfly scene, which is really quite nice looking, especially on longer parts of the body like legs, arms and sides of the torso.

Smaller butterfly tattoos are placed on neck, ankles, wrists, hands and feet.

The more mid-size butterfly tattoos are placed on the shoulder and upper arm. While some woman still put larger tattoos on their lower backs, when the term 'tramp stamp' referred to any type of lower back tattoo, woman not only stopped putting their tattoos there, but also, in many cases, removing them.

What I find interesting with butterfly tattoos, is they seem to look the opposite on the body as in nature. By that I mean the ones that are more black and grey, or black and grey with a little color added in, seem to look much better than those with vibrant and full color.

Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but at least that's my take on it.

What's so fun about butterfies and butterfly tattoos is the extraordinary variety available to choose from. If you want inspiration, just get a book or go online and look up butterflies themselves and see the amazing variety and color these beautiful creatures portray.

I know some people will take a printed photo of a butterfly and bring it to their tattoo artist to work out a design resembling it.

A couple of my personal favorites with butterfly tattoos is the one that is also growing in popularity, which includes a dragonfly, making the image on the more fascinating and interesting.

But the absolute favorite for me is when you have the scrolling, vine-like look going up the length of a leg, arm or side. Include the butterfly and the dragonfly, and that's as good as it gets for tattoos for me. 

It seems the reason why butterfly tattoos are so popular among women is they look good in many places where they're placed, and so unless they're really done badly, or have some added dark sort of connotation, most work well in situations where they'll be seen socially and in most instances - professionally. Obviously it depends on the profession, but they're less risky than some tattoos that could keep you from getting hired.

Another major reason for their popularity is the beauty of the butterfly in its form, and I also think its fragility; which life teaches us is part of our experience.

Butterflies have beauty like women do, but life is also fragile, and nothing is guaranteed but the moment we live in.

Probably my favorite thing about a butterfly though is how it represents transforming from one thing to another, and as we live our lives they take on these sometimes scary but challenging changes that transform us all into who we are.

In the end, there are a large number of reasons women choose butterfly tattoos, and it's the butterfly itself in all its variety and beauty that inspires us.

From the flittering and fluttering as it flies to its harmless landing on a flower or finger to its lines, beauty and the realization that we can be changed from who we were into someone different is all represented in the butterfly.

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