The three main skull symbols
โ ๏ธ Skull and crossbones (U+2620) is the oldest of the three. It works as a text symbol or an emoji and carries the classic meanings: pirates, danger and death. ๐ Skull (U+1F480) is a color emoji of a bare skull with no bones. ๐ฑ Black skull and crossbones (U+1F571) is a solid version that exists only as a text symbol, which makes it handy for usernames that should not turn into emoji.
The pirate flag ๐ดโโ ๏ธ is not a separate character. It is a black flag ๐ด joined to โ ๏ธ with an invisible zero width joiner, and phones draw the pair as one Jolly Roger.
What ๐ means in texts
Online, ๐ rarely means death. "I'm dead ๐" means something was so funny you could not stop laughing, and a row of ๐๐๐ is even stronger. Depending on context it can also show shock or second-hand embarrassment.
In design and fashion, skulls stand for rebellion, rock, biker and goth style, and for the old idea of memento mori: "remember that you will die". Pair a skull with roses ๐ฅ, crosses โ or daggers โ for a dark aesthetic, or with ๐ดโโ ๏ธ and โ๏ธ for pirates. Looking for the hazard meaning instead? The toxic symbol page covers โ ๏ธ on poison labels.
How to type a skull
On a phone, search for "skull" in the emoji keyboard to get ๐ and โ ๏ธ. On Windows, press Windows + ., and on a Mac press Control + Command + Space. In Microsoft Word, type 2620 and press Alt + X for โ ๏ธ. The black skull ๐ฑ is not on emoji keyboards, so copying it from this page is the easiest way.
For a gothic name, write it with the Old English text generator and add โ ๏ธ on both sides, like โ ๏ธ ๐๐๐ฏ๐จ โ ๏ธ. More dark ideas are on the sword symbols and cross symbol pages.