Date Tattoo Ideas: 19 Ways to Wear a Date, and How to Write It Right
A date tattoo can be as small as six digits on a wrist or as long as a Roman numeral date across a forearm. Below are 19 ways to wear one, grouped by what the date marks, each with where it sits and how big to draw it. After them come the two things to get right: the order of day and month, and the spelling of Roman numerals. The last sections cover how big each format needs to be.
Birthdays and children
1A birth date in numbers
The shortest way to write a date, and the one that fits the smallest spot. Ten characters like 11.04.2019 (April 11, written day first) fill about 2.25 in, nearly the whole flat of the wrist; a two-digit year leaves more margin. Decide the order before anything else.
11.04.201911.04.2019Prints clean at 3 × 1 in · 2 spacesTry it
2A birth date with the time
The date on one line and the time of birth on the next, in the same plain numerals. Two short lines fit the forearm better than one long one.
06.14.214:12 am06.14.21 / 4:12 amPrints clean at 3 × 1.5 in · 2 spacesTry it
3A birth year in Roman numerals
Just the year, which keeps a Roman date short: 1996 is MCMXCVI. One WeddingWire member shares a pair with her best friend: “They are our birth year in roman numerals (we were born in the same year)” (WeddingWire).
MCMXCVIMCMXCVIPrints clean at 3 × 1 in · 2 spacesTry it
4Each child’s birth date, stacked
One line per child, oldest at the top, in the same format and size so the column stays even. Leave space below if the family might grow.
03.02.1511.08.18
07.30.2203.02.15 / 11.08.18 / 07.30.22Prints clean at 3 × 2 in · 3 spacesTry it
5A birth flower with the date along the stem
The flower for the birth month, here a daisy for April, with the date 04.11.19 (April 11, 2019, written month first) running up the stem. The stem gives a long date somewhere to sit without widening the design.
04.11.1904.11.19Prints clean at 2 × 1 in · 2 spacesTry itWeddings and anniversaries
6The wedding date on the wrist
Six digits and two dots, the simplest version. One WeddingWire member was weighing exactly this: “I was contemplating getting our wedding date 02.22.2020, or something else and meaningful to us” (WeddingWire). Our temporary tattoos for weddings guide covers wearing one on the day.
09.20.2509.20.25Prints clean at 2 × 1 in · 2 spacesTry it
7The date on the ring finger
A finger is only about 0.6 in across, so a date on top of the ring finger has to be tiny, about half the 0.3 in letter height that stays readable elsewhere. Hands are washed and rub on everything, so expect this spot to fade first. More pairs are in small matching tattoos.
08.12.2308.12.23Needs 3 × 1 in · 2 spaces to print cleanTry it
8A Roman numeral date on two lines
Day and month on top, year below, so each part stays large enough to read. This one, XI · IV over MMXIX, is written day first: April 11, 2019. An American reads it as November 4.
XI · IVMMXIXXI · IV / MMXIXPrints clean at 3 × 2 in · 3 spacesTry it
9“Est.” and the year
The year a marriage or a family began, with no day or month to misread. Here it’s in Roman numerals: Est. MMXIV is 2014.
Est. MMXIVEst. MMXIVPrints clean at 3 × 1 in · 2 spacesTry it
10Initials over the date
Your initials on top and the date underneath, both in the same plain face, so neither competes with the other.
A + J06.14.26A + J / 06.14.26Prints clean at 2 × 2 in · 3 spacesTry it
11Coordinates and a date
Where it happened, then when: latitude, longitude and the date, one per line. Three short lines fit the upper arm; one line of more than twenty characters would not.
34°03′08″N118°14′37″W
09.21.1934°03′08″N / 118°14′37″W / 09.21.19Prints clean at 3 × 2 in · 3 spacesTry it
12A ticket stub
For a first date at a concert or a movie: a small ticket outline with the date printed on it.
ADMIT ONE10.21.17ADMIT ONE / 10.21.17Prints clean at 3 × 1.5 in · 2 spacesTry it
Remembering someone
13A name over two years
A name above the years, the years on a second line, joined by a dash. Our pet memorial tattoo guide has more ways to wear one.
Eleanor1938 – 2021Eleanor / 1938 – 2021Prints clean at 3 × 1.5 in · 2 spacesTry it
14A date on a heartbeat line
A single heartbeat line with the date set into the flat stretch at one end. The line needs length, so start at the wrist and run up the forearm.
10.03.0810.03.08Prints clean at 2 × 1 in · 2 spacesTry it
15The date in their handwriting
Numbers copied from a card or a letter they wrote, so the date is in their hand, not a font. Our handwriting tattoo guide shows how to get a clean copy.
Milestones and quiet dates
16A sobriety date
Only the numbers, no words, for a date that only you need to read. An ankle is easy to cover with a sock.
03.17.2003.17.20Prints clean at 2 × 1 in · 2 spacesTry it
17A year along the finger
Four digits are short enough to run along a finger, where a full date would have to be hairline-small.
20192019Prints clean at 1 × 1 in · 1 spaceTry it
18The date in words
Written as a word, the month can’t be mistaken for the day, and the line follows the collarbone.
June 14June 14Prints clean at 2 × 1 in · 2 spacesTry it
19Day first, with middle dots
The 14 leaves no doubt, because there is no 14th month. Middle dots give each number a little more air than full stops.
14 · 06 · 2114 · 06 · 21Prints clean at 2 × 1 in · 2 spacesTry itDecide the order first
The same six digits mean different days in different places. In the U.S. the month comes first; in the U.K., most of Europe, Latin America and many other places the day comes first. China, Japan and Korea put the year first. So does the international standard ISO 8601, which writes the date as 1997-04-05 (ISO).
Any date whose day is 12 or less can be read both ways. If the people who will read it write dates differently from you, write the month as a word.
Numbers, words or Roman numerals
Numbers (04.05.97) are short and fit the smallest sizes, but carry the order problem. Words (April 5) remove the doubt and need a wider size. Roman numerals (IV.V.MCMXCVII) look classic and are private at a glance, but they are easy to get wrong and long years need room. A short year saves space in either system, IV.V.97 or 04.05.97; mixing Roman day and month with an Arabic year can look as if you ran out of space, so if you mix, do it on purpose. Separators are a taste call: dots are the quietest, middle dots give each number more air, slashes look like a form, and vertical bars need a little extra width.
Writing a Roman numeral date
Roman numerals are easy to get almost right. One husband’s tattoo for January 1, 2019 came out as “XICMXIX” (Comic Sands); written in the standard form, that date is I.I.MMXIX. Even careful people worry about it: “I got my daughter’s birthdate in Roman numerals and I checked a Million times before to make sure it was correct,” one TikTok commenter wrote (iHeartRadio).
There are seven numerals: I (1), V (5), X (10), L (50), C (100), D (500) and M (1,000) (Britannica). In the standard modern form, I, X, C and M are never repeated more than three times in a row, and V, L and D are never repeated at all. A smaller numeral before a larger one is subtracted, but only in six pairs: IV (4), IX (9), XL (40), XC (90), CD (400) and CM (900). There is no zero, so the 5th is V, not 05.
Convert the day, the month and the year separately, then check each part by adding it back up. For June 14, 2026, written month first:
- Month: 6 is VI.
- Day: 14 is X + IV, so XIV.
- Year: 2026 is MM + XX + VI, so MMXXVI.
- Together: VI.XIV.MMXXVI. Read it back: 6, 14, 2,000 + 20 + 6.
- Month: 6 is VI (5 + 1)
- Day: 14 is XIV (10 + 4)
- Year: 2026 is MMXXVI (2 × 1000 + 2 × 10 + 5 + 1)
- Read it back: 6, 14, 2026. Month first.
Standard forms, and the slips to check for:
| Number | Standard | Wrong or nonstandard |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | IV | IIII (some clock faces) |
| 9 | IX | VIIII |
| 10 | X | VV |
| 19 | XIX | IXX |
| 99 | XCIX | IC |
| 1988 | MCMLXXXVIII | MDCCCCLXXXVIII |
| 1999 | MCMXCIX | MIM |
| 2024 | MMXXIV | MMXXIIII |
How big a date needs to be
Keep letters at least about 0.3 in tall. One lettering studio gives a similar rule: “we want lowercase letters at least a quarter inch tall” (Traditional Ink). In practice:
| Date | Prints clean at | |
|---|---|---|
| 11.11.97 Numbers | 3 × 1 in · 2 spaces | Try |
| November 11 Words | 3 × 1 in · 2 spaces | Try |
| XI · XI / MCMXCVII Short Roman, two lines | 3 × 1.5 in · 2 spaces | Try |
| XXVIII · XII / MCMLXXXVIII Long Roman, two lines | 4 × 2 in · 4 spaces | Try |
Leave a little space between the parts, because characters that nearly touch can merge over time. The same studio warns that “the gaps inside letters like ‘a,’ ‘e,’ and ‘o’ can fill in”; the loops in 6, 8, 9 and 0 work the same way, so pick numerals with open counters. Some serif typefaces draw numbers in an old style, smaller and partly below the line, which suits Roman numerals but makes a numeric date look uneven; for numbers, choose a face whose digits all stand the same height. The rest is in name tattoo fonts.
Where it fits
On our body map, drawn on a 5 ft 7 in model, the inner wrist is about 2.3 in across and the ankle about 2.6 in, so a numeric date at 2 × 1 in sits flat on either. A date in words or a Roman date on two lines belongs on the forearm or the collarbone. A finger is about 0.6 in across, so anything there runs along it. How each spot holds up over time is covered in how long temporary tattoos last.
Have someone read it back
A wrong digit or a misread order is permanent once it is inked, and you are the worst person to spot it, because you already know what it says. “My husband was supposed to get our wedding date tattooed (2-23-19), turns out he actually got 2-33-19,” one commenter wrote (iHeartRadio). Lettering artists give the same advice for any text: “Read your text out loud, have someone else read it back to you” (Traditional Ink).
Wear it first: make a custom date tattoo you can try first. A semi-permanent tattoo develops in 24–48 hours and has a tested wear range, when fading usually starts in our tests, of 4–22 days by placement. Our date tattoo editor takes any of the formats above. Then hand your wrist to someone who writes dates the other way round and ask them to read it aloud. If they say the date you meant, you are ready.
Questions people ask
What is the best format for a date tattoo?
The one the people around you will read correctly. Numbers are the most compact; the month written as a word is the one format nobody can misread, whatever the date; Roman numerals are the most private and need the most room.
How do you write 2026 in Roman numerals?
MMXXVI: two thousands (MM), two tens (XX) and six (VI). 2025 is MMXXV and 2027 is MMXXVII.
Should a Roman numeral date be written month first or day first?
Either, as long as you choose on purpose. Roman numerals don’t solve the order problem: XI · IV is November 4 to an American reader and April 11 to many European readers.
Where should a date tattoo go?
A short numeric date fits the inner wrist or ankle. Longer formats, like words or Roman numerals on two lines, need the forearm, the collarbone or the back of the upper arm.
Can I add another date later?
Yes, if you plan the space now. Stacked dates, like a line for each child, are easiest to extend when the first line is set in a simple face with room below it.
Sources
- ; the drawings marked “to scale” are measured.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Roman numerals
- ISO: ISO 8601, the international standard for date and time format
- Comic Sands: husband’s Roman numeral wedding date tattoo (December 21, 2021)
- iHeartRadio: husband gets wrong date on anniversary tattoo (December 20, 2021; quotes checked October 23, 2026)
- WeddingWire forum: Would you get matching tattoos with your future husband/wife? (quotes checked October 23, 2026)
- Traditional Ink: script and lettering tattoos (quotes checked October 23, 2026)
- JUSTPRESS body map: flat widths of each placement, measured on a 5 ft 7 in model.