I'm a tattoo artist and you should never get an inking of your child's name - here's why

October 2024 · 3 minute read

MANY parents will get a tattoo after having a child, deciding to get the carefully chosen name inked permanently on their skin.

You might think that getting your child's name tattooed is pretty risk-free, but not everyone thinks so.

Although getting your boyfriend's name tattooed is notoriously a bad idea, since you could always break up, getting your kid's name seems like a safe bet in comparison.

Sabrina Rogers-Anderson, From Canada, told Kidspot why name it's still a bad idea, even if it's your kid's name.

She explained: "There’s a good chance your kids will regret your decision when they have to walk down the beach with you and your giant cursive rendition of their moniker across your back.

"Talk about an embarrassing parent!

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"Laser removal and tattoo cover-ups of names are booming businesses for a reason," she says.

Although most parents relish at the thought of embarrassing their kids, maybe a tattoo of their name isn't the best way to go about it.

Of course that didn't stop countless celebs from getting their little one's names etched onto their skin.

David Beckham has loads of tattoos dedicated to his children and Spice girl turned fashion designer wife, Victoria.

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They include the names of his daughter, Harper, and his son, Romeo, on his neck as well as his son's Brooklyn and Cruz's names on his back.

But Becks is in good company with his ink choices, Kylie Jenner has her daughter's name, Stormi, tattooed above her elbow in a small print.

According to Sabrina, it's not tattoos dedicated to your kids that are the problem, it's just the names that can look tacky.

The mum-of-three confesses that she has tattoos herself and is considering getting one of her kid's birthday.

But getting their name tattooed is out of the question.

There are loads of clever ways you can get a touching tattoo without getting an entire name scrawled across your body.

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Sabrina notes that opting for their birthday, star sign or even one of their doodles could be cute option that wont look quite so bad.

Angelina Jolie famously has the star map coordinates that match with the birthplace of her brood, which is a unique alternative to their names.

Name tattoos are also much easier to get wrong because of the different ways names can be spelt, which adds to why they're such a bad idea.

Back in 2018 one mum decided to get her kids names inked on her arm - but things didn't exactly go to plan.

Johanna Giselhäll Sandström, from Sweden, thought the simple tattoo would be easy enough to do, but made one major blunder.

After the tattoo artist spelt her son's name wrong on the design, adding “l” into her son’s name, making it Kelvin instead of Kevin, the mum decided to legally change her son's name rather than fork out for a cover-up or laser removal.

Although things might've worked out for Johanna and Kelvin, most parents probably aren't up for changing their tot's name if a tattoo goes wrong.

Tattoo artist Richard Richardson told Insider that he always makes sure his clients know what they're doing when they get tattoos of any name.

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That said, kids names aren't the worst offender according to the artist, who admits to having his daughter's name inked on his arm.

Richard says he would never do a tattoo in a "crass" way, so picking the right design is the key.

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