How to Write a Date in Roman Numerals (Tattoos, Weddings, Birthdays)

The short answer

To write a date in Roman numerals, convert the day, month and year separately and join them with a dot, a dash or a middle dot. For example, 14 February 2026 becomes XIV.II.MMXXVI in day-month-year order. Use the Roman Numeral Converter for each part, then convert the result back to make sure every piece reads correctly.

Step by step

Decide the order. In India, the UK and most of Europe, dates are written day first (DD.MM.YYYY). In the US, the month usually comes first (MM.DD.YYYY). Pick the order the reader will expect, because 03.04 means 3 April to one person and 4 March to another.

Convert the day. Days run from 1 (I) to 31 (XXXI).

Convert the month. January is I and December is XII.

Convert the year. For example 1999 is MCMXCIX and 2026 is MMXXVI.

Join the parts with the separator you like. Dots are the most common choice for tattoos and engraving.

Check the result by converting each part back to a number.

Roman numerals have no zero, so you never write a leading zero. The 5th of a month is simply V, not "0V".

Months in Roman numerals

Month	Number	Roman numeral
January	1	I
February	2	II
March	3	III
April	4	IV
May	5	V
June	6	VI
July	7	VII
August	8	VIII
September	9	IX
October	10	X
November	11	XI
December	12	XII

Days that people often get wrong

Most days are easy, but the ones built from subtraction (a smaller numeral before a larger one) trip people up.

Day	Roman numeral	Why
4	IV	5 minus 1
9	IX	10 minus 1
14	XIV	10 + 4
19	XIX	10 + 9
24	XXIV	20 + 4
29	XXIX	20 + 9
31	XXXI	30 + 1

Recent years in Roman numerals

Year	Roman numeral
1985	MCMLXXXV
1990	MCMXC
1994	MCMXCIV
1999	MCMXCIX
2000	MM
2008	MMVIII
2015	MMXV
2020	MMXX
2024	MMXXIV
2025	MMXXV
2026	MMXXVI
2027	MMXXVII

Years from 2000 to 2099 always start with MM. For 1900 to 1999 they start with MCM (1,000 plus 900).

Worked examples

A wedding on 12 December 2025 (day-month-year):

• Day 12 = XII
• Month 12 = XII
• Year 2025 = MMXXV
• Result: XII.XII.MMXXV

A birthday on 24 September 1994 (day-month-year):

• Day 24 = XXIV
• Month 9 = IX
• Year 1994 = MCMXCIV
• Result: XXIV.IX.MCMXCIV

The same birthday in US order (month-day-year): IX.XXIV.MCMXCIV

A child born on 4 July 2020: IV.VII.MMXX (day first) or VII.IV.MMXX (month first). This is exactly the kind of date where order matters, because both versions are valid dates.

Choosing a separator

• Dots (XIV.II.MMXXVI) are the most common for tattoos, rings and wedding signs.
• Middle dots (XIV · II · MMXXVI) look neat on invitations.
• Dashes or slashes work, but slashes can look like extra strokes in some fonts.
• Spaces only can be confusing, because a reader may not know where one number ends and the next begins.

Whatever you choose, keep it the same between all three parts.

How to check a date before it is permanent

A tattoo, an engraving or a printed invitation is hard to fix, so check every part twice.

Open the converter and choose Roman → Number.

Type each part on its own, for example XIV, then II, then MMXXVI.

Confirm each comes back as the number you meant.

Then switch to Number → Roman, type the original numbers again and compare the letters character by character.

Why both directions? In Roman → Number mode, the converter adds and subtracts the letter values but does not reject non-standard spellings. It reads IIII as 4 and IC as 99, even though the standard forms are IV and XCIX. Converting from the number gives you the standard spelling, so a mismatch between the two tells you something is off.

Common mistakes

• Writing IIII for 4 or VIIII for 9. The standard forms are IV and IX. (IIII does appear on some clock faces, but it is not the usual way to write a date.)
• Writing IC for 99 or IL for 49. Only I, X and C are placed before a larger numeral, and only before the next two values up: I before V or X, X before L or C, C before D or M. So 49 is XLIX and 99 is XCIX.
• Mixing up day and month order between what you mean and what the reader assumes.
• Copying a year from a list without checking it. 1990 is MCMXC, not MXM.
• Letter shapes in the design. In some script fonts, I and L or V and U look alike. Ask the artist to show you a proof and read it back.

Using the converter

The Roman Numeral Converter has two modes:

• Number → Roman accepts whole numbers from 1 to 3,999 and returns the standard form.
• Roman → Number accepts the letters M, D, C, L, X, V and I in upper or lower case.

It converts one number at a time, so enter the day, the month and the year separately and copy each result with the Copy result button. For the rules behind the letters and how to read long numerals, see How to Read and Write Roman Numerals (Including Years Like 2026).