Roman numeral converter
Numbers into numerals, carved as you type
Type a number or a Roman numeral and the other appears, with each piece of the working laid out. There is a date converter too, for anniversaries, engravings and tattoos.
Nothing you type is saved or sent.
Standard Roman numerals stop at 3,999 (MMMCMXCIX). Larger numbers need a bar over a letter to multiply it by a thousand.
How Roman numerals work
There are seven symbols. You write a number by adding them up from largest to smallest, left to right.
| Symbol | Value | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | 1 | C | 100 |
| V | 5 | D | 500 |
| X | 10 | M | 1,000 |
| L | 50 |
The subtraction rule
A smaller symbol in front of a larger one is subtracted. Only six pairs are used: IV (4), IX (9), XL (40), XC (90), CD (400) and CM (900). That is why 1999 is MCMXCIX and not MIM: you may only subtract I from V and X, X from L and C, and C from D and M.
Three more rules
- No symbol repeats more than three times. 4 is IV, not IIII, in the standard modern form. (Clock faces often use IIII anyway, a long-standing tradition.)
- V, L and D never repeat and are never subtracted.
- There is no zero. The Romans had no numeral for it.
Roman numeral dates
For an engraving or tattoo, each part of the date is converted on its own and the parts are separated by dots, dashes or spaces: 14 February 2026 becomes II · XIV · MMXXVI in month-day-year order. Check the order with whoever it is for; the same numerals in day-month-year order mean a different date. Before anything permanent, read the result back against the original date.
Years you might need
| Year | Roman numerals | Year | Roman numerals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | MCMXC | 2020 | MMXX |
| 1995 | MCMXCV | 2024 | MMXXIV |
| 2000 | MM | 2025 | MMXXV |
| 2010 | MMX | 2026 | MMXXVI |
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