Roman numeral converter

How to use it

1. Type a number (1994) or a Roman numeral (MCMXCIV, upper or lower case) in the Number box. The other one appears as you type, with the breakdown underneath.
2. For a date, open Date, pick it, type it or tap Today. All four layouts appear at once, each with the date in words.
3. Choose a separator, then tap Use for stencil on the layout you want.
4. Pick a typeface, size, spacing, and one line or stacked, then download a PNG (1× to 4×) or an SVG.
5. For many at once, open List, paste one number, numeral or date per line, and copy the table.

What it cannot do

• Nothing above 3,999,999. Standard numerals stop at 3,999; from 4,000 it needs the vinculum, and it does not write the boxed numerals once used for hundreds of thousands.
• No zero and no fractions: Roman numerals have no zero symbol, and the Roman twelfths (uncia) are not written here. Decimals are refused, not rounded.
• Years from 1 to 3,999 only in Date mode, on today's calendar (no BC dates, no Julian calendar).
• It checks the numerals, not the tattoo design. Spacing, placement and how a line heals are your artist's job: have them check the stencil at its real size.
• Strict means the modern standard form. Old inscriptions used other forms (XXXX, VIIII, IIXX); the reader refuses them and names the standard form, except IIII, which it reads and explains.

Everything happens in this page. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, and nothing is saved.

The rules it checks

Standard form writes each decimal place on its own, largest first, from this table:

So 1994 is M + CM + XC + IV, and 2026 is MM + XX + VI. From that table follow the checks the reader makes: V, L and D are never repeated or subtracted; I is subtracted only from V and X, X only from L and C, C only from D and M; only one letter is subtracted at a time; no letter appears more than three times in a row.

“The numerals for 4 (IV) and 9 (IX) are written using subtractive notation, where the smaller symbol (I) is subtracted from the larger one (V or X), instead of IIII and VIIII. Subtractive notation is also used for 40 (XL), 90 (XC), 400 (CD) and 900 (CM). These are the only subtractive forms in standard use.”

“The largest number that can be represented in this manner is 3,999 (MMMCMXCIX).”

“Modern clock faces that use Roman numerals still very often use IIII for four o'clock but IX for nine o'clock, a practice that goes back to very early clocks such as the Wells Cathedral clock of the late 14th century.”

“Using the vinculum, conventional Roman numerals are multiplied by 1,000 by adding a ‘bar’ or ‘overline’.”

“…there has never been an official or universally accepted standard for Roman numerals.”

Quoted from Roman numerals, Wikipedia (revision of 17 October 2026, fetched 20 October 2026, CC BY-SA 4.0). The same text and table are in rules.json with the source URL and date.

Questions

How do you write a date in Roman numerals?

Write the day, the month and the year as three separate numerals and keep the order your country uses. 19 October 2026 is XIX.X.MMXXVI day first, X.XIX.MMXXVI month first (the US habit), and MMXXVI.X.XIX year first. Dots are the most common separator; middle dots, dashes, slashes and spaces are also used.

How do I check a date of birth in Roman numerals before a tattoo?

Type the date in Date mode and read each layout with its words beside it. If the day and the month are both 12 or under, the page warns you: 4 March and April 3 use the same numerals (IV and III) in different orders, so IV.III.MMXXVI means one date in London and another in New York. Download the stencil as SVG or PNG and have your artist check it at size.

Is IIII or IV correct for 4?

IV is the standard modern form. IIII is the clock-face form: many clocks use it for four o'clock, and the Romans themselves often wrote it. The converter reads IIII as 4 and says so, and always writes IV.

How do you write 2026 in Roman numerals?

MMXXVI: MM is 2000, XX is 20 and VI is 6. Each decimal place is written on its own, from the largest down, and a place that is zero is simply left out, so 2006 is MMVI.

What is the largest Roman numeral?

In standard form, 3,999 (MMMCMXCIX), because no letter is written more than three times in a row. With the vinculum, a bar over a numeral multiplies it by 1,000, so 4,000 is I̅V̅. This converter writes up to 3,999,999 that way.

Typefaces: Cinzel, Cormorant Garamond, Josefin Sans, Great Vibes and UnifrakturMaguntia, all under the SIL Open Font License, served from this page with their licences.