Date to Roman numerals
Birthdays, weddings and the day the dog arrived: pick the date, choose the layout, and copy a numeral date fit for skin, silver or stone.
Guide
How to use it
- Pick the date.
- Choose the separator: middle dots read most classically, hyphens and slashes are modern, stacked lines suit vertical placements.
- Choose the order, day-month-year is the UK convention, month first is American, year first looks monumental.
- Copy, and then proofread character by character against the chart before anything permanent happens. Twice.
Examples
Layout choices, worn well
14 February 2026 with middle dots, the engraver’s default. Dots survive small sizes better than hyphens, which can read as Is at a distance.
Day, month and year on three lines suits spines, forearms and ring boxes. Shorter lines also mean larger, clearer characters at the same height.
A caution: splitting a year digit-by-digit (M M X X V I as separate "numbers") is a common tattoo error. A year is one number, MMXXVI, this tool never splits it.
Method
How it works
Day, month and year each convert as complete numbers, 14 is XIV, February is II, 2026 is MMXXVI, which is the convention every classical inscription and modern engraving follows. The digit-by-digit alternative seen in some generators produces numerals that read as nonsense.
All separators are plain Unicode, so the output pastes into design software, engraving order forms and messages to tattoo artists without surprises.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Day first or month first?
Whichever your life reads: UK and Europe day-first, US month-first. Since II·XIV and XIV·II are both plausible dates, tell the artist which convention you used.
How do I write a year like 1990?
MCMXC, as one number. The common error is treating digits separately (I IX IX 0, and there is no 0), always convert the whole year.
What about dates before 1000?
They work fine, 999 is CMXCIX. Only zero is impossible, and no calendar date contains a standalone zero as a number anyway (the 10th is X).
Dots, dashes or nothing between parts?
All are used. Middle dots (interpuncts) are the most classical, Romans themselves separated words with them. Spacing alone works at large sizes.
Should the numerals be serif?
Traditionally yes, Roman inscriptional capitals are the ancestral serif. But the numerals are letters: any typeface your design uses will carry them.
One last check before the needle?
Read the output backwards against the chart, character by character, and have someone else do the same. This tool is careful, permanence deserves paranoia.
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