Roman Numeral Tattoo
Turn any date into a Roman numeral tattoo.
Roman Numeral Tattoo Generator
A date in Roman numerals is one of the most popular minimalist tattoos – a birthday, a wedding day, a child's birth or the day someone special was lost. The Roman Numeral Tattoo Generator converts your date into every common format so you can compare them and take the right one to your tattoo artist.
Formats
- MM.DD.YYYY (US) – July 4, 1994 → VII.IV.MCMXCIV
- DD.MM.YYYY (EU) – 4 July 1994 → IV.VII.MCMXCIV
- YYYY.MM.DD – MCMXCIV.VII.IV
- MM.YYYY – month and year only, e.g. VII.MCMXCIV
- Year only – MCMXCIV, short enough for a finger or wrist.
How Roman numerals work
Seven letters make every number: I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, L = 50, C = 100, D = 500 and M = 1000. Letters are added from largest to smallest (MMXXIV = 2024), and a smaller letter before a larger one is subtracted: IV = 4, IX = 9, XC = 90, CM = 900. That is why 1994 is M + CM + XC + IV = MCMXCIV.
Before you get inked
Double-check the order. US and European readers will read VI.IV differently (June 4 or April 6). Pick the order you will recognize in 30 years.
Verify twice. Paste the result into a second converter or ask a friend to read it back. A wrong letter is a common tattoo regret.
Think about length. Years from the 1980s and 1990s are long (MCMLXXXVIII has 11 letters). Year-only or month-and-year formats keep small tattoos readable.
How to use
Type a Date and press Generate to see all formats, or pick one Format and Divider for a single clean line. Leave the date blank to generate random dates between the from and to years – handy for practicing Roman numerals.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I write a date in Roman numerals?
Convert the month, day and year separately and join them with a divider. July 4, 1994 becomes VII.IV.MCMXCIV in US order or IV.VII.MCMXCIV in European order.
Which date formats can I type?
YYYY-MM-DD (2024-06-15), US MM/DD/YYYY (06/15/2024) or European DD.MM.YYYY (15.06.2024). Invalid dates such as 2023-02-29 are rejected so you never ink a mistake.
Should I use dots, bullets or dashes?
It is purely a style choice. Dots are the most common, bullets look elegant in fine-line work, and bars or spaces suit vertical tattoos along the spine or forearm.
Why is there no Roman numeral for zero?
The Roman system had no zero, so days and months are written as plain numerals without leading zeros – 05 becomes V – and years run from I to MMMCMXCIX (3999).