What America Engraves: 35,023 Personalized Gifts, Analyzed

We counted what people engrave on 35,023 personalized gifts ordered from SFdizayn between 2021 and 2026. Three in four of these gifts shipped to homes in the United States. The result is a simple picture of what Americans want to say when the words have to last: love, a way home, a date that matters and, for nearly one in five, their faith.

Key findings

• 3 in 10 engravings contain the word "love" (31.6%), and just as many contain "always" (30.3%).
• Nearly 1 in 4 engravings includes a date or a year (23.7%). 1 in 23 includes GPS coordinates (4.3%), such as the place a couple met, married or called home.
• Moms sign 3 times more often than dads: "Love, Mom" appears on 907 engravings, "Love, Dad" on 284.
• Nearly 1 in 5 engravings carries a faith message or a Bible verse (18.2%). Proverbs 3:5–6 ("Trust in the Lord with all your heart…") is the most engraved verse by far.
• December is the busiest month, with 15.1% of the year's orders, three times as many as a typical month between July and October.
• The most engraved gift is a brass pocket compass (64% of all items), followed by leather wallets (28%) and leather journals (6%).

The most engraved lines

These are the lines people chose most often, counted across all 35,023 engravings. After faith and love, the biggest theme is finding the way home, a natural line for a compass for a son or grandson leaving for college, work or the military.

The most engraved Bible verses

2,412 engravings name a Bible verse. Proverbs 3:5–6 appears on 1,389 gifts, more than six times as often as the next verse, and it is the classic line for a baptism compass or a confirmation gift.

Who signs the gift

When a gift is signed, it is most often signed by a parent, and far more often by Mom. "Love, Mom" appears on 907 engravings, "Love, Dad" on 284, and "Mom & Dad" together on 762. Grandparents (Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Poppy) are named on 562 gifts, often on a baptism compass from grandparents.

When people order

Across 2021 and 2022, the two full years in this data set, December brought 15.1% of all orders. Spring is the second peak (Easter, graduations, Mother's Day and Father's Day), while late summer and early fall are the quietest months. Our shipping page lists this year's Christmas order dates.

How we counted

We used the personalization text of 35,023 engraved items: items ordered in 2021 and 2022, items ordered from January 1 to November 11, 2026, and 970 items from sfdizayn.com orders placed between 2021 and 2026. A short-lived 2021 run of game-themed fan compasses was left out. We counted how often words, lines and verse references appear; a line is counted once per item. Names, addresses and private messages were never read out or published, and no individual engraving is quoted. Shares are rounded to one decimal. Engraving is done by machine in our Istanbul workshop and every piece is checked by hand.

Journalists and bloggers: you are welcome to use these figures with a link to this page. For more detail or an interview with our founder, Serkan Aysel, write to info@sfdizayn.com.