What Were People Googling in 2021?

New York—Every year, Google publishes a list of the search trends that shaped the year, from the most googled athletes and actors, to the most searched for aesthetics, musicians and memes.

This year-end retrospective also gives visitors to Trends.Google.com the opportunity to explore the year in search around topics of their choosing, like jewelry.

Google’s data shows that searches for “jewelry” in the United States peaked at predictable times in 2021.

There was a jump between Feb. 7-13, just before Valentine’s Day, and an even larger spike in the run-up to Mother’s Day, from May 2-8.

After dropping off in late summer/early fall, searches for “jewelry” began climbing in early November, peaking right before Christmas, from Dec. 12 to 25.

Google’s data also shows topics and queries related to searches for “jewelry” that sparked interest in 2021.

The top related topics were, in order, searches for businesses that sell jewelry, followed by jewelry store, Pandora, gold and ring.

Rising related topics, meaning those with the greatest increase in frequency this year, were bridal jewelry, JTV and valuation, followed by searches for Icebox and Gorjana.

The top queries related to searches for “jewelry” indicated that people were looking for somewhere to buy jewelry, which is not surprising considering the bullish year the fine jewelry industry has experienced.

“Jewelry near me,” “jewelry store,” and “jewelry stores” were the top related queries, followed by Pandora and Pandora jewelry.

The top two rising queries were for Jaclyn Roxanne jewelry—a line of fashion jewelry from Jaclyn Hill, who rose to fame doing makeup tutorials on YouTube—followed by “I put on my jewelry just to go to the bodega,” a line from the song “Whole Lotta Money” by rapper BIA that went viral on TikTok. (And something almost everyone can relate to after nearly two years with few events.)

Rounding out the top five rising queries were Banter jewelry (Banter is the new name for Piercing Pagoda), Linjer jewelry and Triple Crown jewelry. 

So, what else were people looking for this year?

Well, when it came to googling for styling advice, “how to style rings” came in at No. 4, topped only by how to style straight-leg jeans, wolf haircuts (google it!), and corsets. Rounding out the “how to style” top five was “how to style a sweater vest.”

The top five most-searched-for aesthetics were: indie; dark academia, which involves dark colors and preppy pieces like blazers and plaid skirts (think Vivian in “Legally Blonde”); cottagecore; Y2K; and sage green.

When it came to searching “near me,” the Google trends data shows that, after addressing COVID concerns, people were looking to get out, eat and be entertained.

The top two “near me” searches in the U.S. this year were “COVID vaccine near me” and “COVID testing near me,” followed by movies, bars, bowling and brunch.

Rounding out the top 10 were COVID booster shots, massage places, aquariums and buffets. (“Jewelry stores near me” did not crack the top 10.)

See all the 2021 trending searches for the U.S. on Trends.Google.com.