Are tattoos considered a young person’s thing in the U.S.? Do older people also have tattoos?
Posted by Charming_Usual6227@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 420 comments
Giant_Devil@reddit
I'm in my 50's. I might know more people with tattoos than without. Or not, it's close. I don't have any but I also have no negative opinions about them. I just never saw the point, personally.
Kestrel_Iolani@reddit
My 75yo mentor just got her first tattoo to celebrate her retirement. (A raven feather quill up the length of her forearm.)
Content-Elk-2037@reddit
Depends on what you call old. I’m almost 50 and have 7. Got the latest one early this year.
shelwood46@reddit
Many people of all ages have tattoos, but they got really popular with younger people about 20-25 years ago, so it depends on whether you consider 40 old.
FiddleThruTheFlowers@reddit
What I came in to point out.
Statistically, Millennials are the most tattooed generation as of a few years ago (per Pew). Millennials are also in our 30s and 40s now, with the oldest being in their mid 40s. Does that count as old? Not to me, but I dunno about OP.
Remember 90s tribal and how lower back tattoos (aka tramp stamps) were super popular about 25-30 years ago? The people who got those are in their 40s and 50s now. Is that old?
Before that, tattoos were more for people like military and bikers. They've been getting more and more popular and normalized over the past 30 or so years. So yeah, it depends on what your bar for "old" is.
If anyone is curious about the Pew statistics from 2023: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/08/15/32-of-americans-have-a-tattoo-including-22-who-have-more-than-one/
Say_Hennething@reddit
I can remember when having visible tattoos would prevent you from getting many jobs. And then the slow transition where people would where cloth sleeves to hide their forearm tattoos.
Its not terribly long ago that tattoos were for soldiers, bikers, and sailors only.
msangieteacher@reddit
Now most jobs you don’t have to hide tattoos anymore. Same for piercings. I teach elementary kids and they love my tattoos. Most are visible, most of the time.
sgtm7@reddit
Even for soldiers, there used to be a rule about not having tattoos that are visible while in uniform. The rules have been relaxed, but tattoos on the face, head, and inside the eyelids/mouth/ears are completely prohibited. Other visible areas are restricted in size, but not prohibited like they used to be.
2_minutes_hate@reddit
Me too. I still wear long sleeves exclusively if I'm working in any environment that isn't hard labor.
mads_61@reddit
I entered the workforce in 2016 and my first corporate job required me to wear long sleeves to cover my small tattoos.
nasondra@reddit
even when i had a tattoo at 18 i had to cover it at a job! and I’m 31 now, so that would be around 2012
NoMoreMustaches@reddit
I feel like they were already fairly common and definitely more acceptable in my boomer parents’ generation than they had been in my grandparents’ generation. My greatest gen grandfather got Real Weird towards my mom’s friend who had a few tattoos.
scarlettohara1936@reddit
Gen X did the work to destigmatize tattoos. You're welcome!
Impossible_Jury5483@reddit
More like 30+ years ago.
IolantheRose@reddit
My cousin majored in Mandarin and works as a translator. Our grandma asked him to write her a Kanji to say "I love my grandma." She got this tat around 70yro. It depends on the person really
Educational_Type1646@reddit
At least 30. Tribal tattoos, and barbed wire biceps were everywhere in the 90s.
Adventurous_Pin_344@reddit
That's what I was going to say... What constitutes 'old'?
I have a coworker in her sixties with a few tattoos. My spouse is 50 and has one. A lot of my middle-aged girlfriends have them. I have one. Am in my forties.
Extension_Variety190@reddit
My disabled Navy vet wife has ONE, a small bird on the back of her upper right shoulder.
RedditHoss@reddit
Please don’t consider 40 old. Please.
Hoobi_Goobi@reddit
Yes, and with older people (70+) it's common for men to have them in places easily hidden by clothes and but less common for women to have them at all. If a very old man has tats, they are more than likely military-related
WhatABeautifulMess@reddit
especially that would be hidden by a military uniform but not necessarily shorts and a t shirt. Those who were in the military had to have them hide-able and corporate folks generally were often discrete about them if they had them back in the day.
cappotto-marrone@reddit
I have to give a shoutout to the Contra Costa Public Library. They created an exhibit called War Ink. It was about US service members and how their tattoos told the story of their military experience. It was so significant that the DoD changed some of its policy on tattoos.
The exhibit is now online.
Hoobi_Goobi@reddit
Yes! I should also add that I live in the deep south where being heavily tatted hasn't been as socially accepted until recent decades
turdferguson3891@reddit
Post 40 you will still see many military tattoos plus random "tribal" ones and tramp stamps.
Jets237@reddit
40 is not old
Source: I am 40
ramblinjd@reddit
Yeah I would say if someone is over like 60-65 and has tattoos they probably were military or in a gang.
If someone is 30 to 60, they were either in a rock band, a gang, or had a really fun midlife crisis.
If someone is under 30 and they have a tattoo, they're cool.
sherahero@reddit
I just got my first one and I'm in my 40s.
el_taquero_@reddit
I agree. When I was in high school and college in the 90s, tattoos were still pretty edgy. In the 2000s, though, they became much more common, and people of all ages began getting them.
annang@reddit
But that also means people in their 30s and 40s started getting them 25 years ago, so really it depends whether you consider 70 old.
RevolutionaryBug2915@reddit
Not so many.
RevolutionaryBug2915@reddit
Not so many.
whatsuperpowers@reddit
Thank you for actually answering the question
HorseFeathersFur@reddit
Aren’t tattoos lifelong?
bizoticallyyours83@reddit
Depends. Some people get laser surgery to remove them
HorseFeathersFur@reddit
Not a lot though. That shit hurts
mac979s@reddit
i had a family member who had some tattoos from prison on his left arm and his knuckles 30 years after the tattoos were made in prison they were very faded. unless you knew already they were and you look intently 🤷♀️
No-Support-1216@reddit
Yeah, GenX got a lot of tattoos. I'm in my 50's and have a half-sleeve, a large back piece and a few random others. You wouldn't know it most of the time. I've also had 3 stupid ones layered, lol. I'm planning another half-sleeve cover right now.
cinnamongirl73@reddit
My Dad is 82 and 90% of his body is covered. He’s got quite a few that he’s had since a teenager.
Sea-Effort-5880@reddit
There are many natives who have had tattoos before the land was colonized. It was more of a symbol of status. For example the Pomo women in California have the line tattoos on their chin which signifies their passage to womanhood, motherhood, etc. still practiced today. But just about anyone over 18 has tattoos. Everyone in my family has tattoos; nieces, nephews, son, sisters, brothers, and my mom. Back in the 2000's i remember teens making their own rigs to do them on each other.
Prior-Soil@reddit
My 85 yo stepmom has quite a few and most are in the last 5 years.
I work in healthcare with many nourses aged 22-30. Some heavily tatted. And most have multiple ear piercings, nose piercings too.
One-Yellow1504@reddit
All young people who get tattoos, become old people with tattoos or tattoo scars
Deep-Hovercraft6716@reddit
Tattoos are more of a class indicator than an age indicator. It takes money to get lots of quality tattoos.
Other-Resort-2704@reddit
You are going to find significantly more younger people with tattoos (Millennials and Generation Z) than Baby Boomers or Silent Generation.
There are plenty of Baby Boomers that served in the military that got tattoos.
MotherOf4Jedi1Sith@reddit
I'd say from GenX down, tattoos are popular. I know some, but not very many, Boomers that have them.
MonkeyVine7@reddit
...tattoos are permanent
Perseverance2571@reddit
Just tattooed the majority of my right shoulder and back of my upper arm as a 54 year old woman. I adore it, and since it’s nature themed, all the nature lovers I come across come talk to me about it. ❤️
chodeobaggins@reddit
My 73 y/o grandma has tattoos. So did my grandfather, my dad and my aunt. We are a kinda white trash family though. Me and my mom and my other grandmother are probably the only ones that don't/didn't have tattoos.
creatyvechaos@reddit
It's rarer in my area to meet someone who has 0 tattoos regardless of age. Always see at least a little guy peeking out from their collar
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
I don't have tattoos and don't know anyone with tattoos.
veiledxvoodoo@reddit
Nah, you definitely know someone with a tattoo, you just don't know it lol
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
I think I would know if they got a tattoo
Or had a tattoo.
veiledxvoodoo@reddit
Yeah, ignorance is bliss lololol
Guaranteed one of your friends has one that you DON'T know about. Unless you make them all strip to nothing to be your friend.
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
I assure you my friends do not have tattoos..
Idk why that is so wierd you think they hiding a tattoo
They also don't have piercings
veiledxvoodoo@reddit
It must be easy to be you 😆
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
What is easy. Why do you assume most people have tattoos..
veiledxvoodoo@reddit
Why do you assume no one you know has tattoos?
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
I don't assume I know. they don't .
Why do you assume you think I know people with tattoos
veiledxvoodoo@reddit
... Because we don't walk around naked and it's very common.
To make a statement that you don't know a single person with a tattoo is ignorant and asinine.
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Tattoos aren't actually common and sorry you judging someone. For not having any
It is ignorant to assume that and it asinine
Everyone I know has college degrees English is their 2nd language
So yes America is diverse and you thinking you have to have a tattoo is odd
Yes I told you I work with children and they not known to have tattoos
I have a large family and no one has a tattoo and don't ever care to have one
Never appealed to me.
veiledxvoodoo@reddit
I never said you have to have a tattoo. I said it's likely at least 1 person you know has at least 1 tattoo, and it's unlikely that you've verified each one of your friends' bodies without clothing is tattoo-free. Also, based on how hard you're clinging to this, you'd be someone that talks shit so no one wants to share with you anyway.
What do college degrees have to do with anything? I have 3 degrees myself and probably a quarter of my body covered in tattoos. Logic must not be your strength.
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
That is always you have 3 degrees but most people who have several degrees Don't cover themselves in tattoos
And it is wierd and judging by you you seem like someone that talks shit
And don't want to engage with you
You seem judgemental good bye
Vesper2000@reddit
I have four college degrees and I have many tattoos. Most of my friends are highly educated, very financially successful, and enjoy getting tattoos.
You clearly have many pre-conceived notions that are incorrect.
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Logic seems to not be your strength. Congrats on the 3 degrees I have 5 and speak 3 languages.
veiledxvoodoo@reddit
That's awfully stereotypical of you 🤣🤣
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Just stating facts
Good bye
veiledxvoodoo@reddit
No, stating anecdotal evidence is not the same as facts.
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
I said goodbye that means leave me alone
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
If I don't have any tattoos wouldn't that be safe to assume I know people who don't have any either
veiledxvoodoo@reddit
Jesus I hope you don't vote
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Are we done now?
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
I do..cause I am an American and sadly I have the same vote as you.
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Idk why that so weird. Not everyone has tattoos. Lol
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
If you asking if I ever seen anyone with tattoos yes. Do I know them no..I work with children and my family and friends don't have any.
creatyvechaos@reddit
Are you in my area?
thingsbetw1xt@reddit
I'm not. You didn't ask me but just letting you know.
2_minutes_hate@reddit
Checking in to let everyone know that I have also been marked safe from being in their area.
creatyvechaos@reddit
Okay good I was worried you specifically were in my area. Thank you for letting me know ahead of time
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Lol why are you asking
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Huh
Ok-Equivalent8260@reddit
That’s crazy. Are you Mormon?
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Lol why would you think that.
No I am not.
shelwood46@reddit
Jewish? It's definitely more of a "which people do you hang out with" thing
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
No I'm not Jewish.
haveanairforceday@reddit
What part of the country are you in?
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Tx
haveanairforceday@reddit
You really dont know.anybody with tattoos? Some of the most well known tattoo shops and artists in the country are in Texas. I personally have a tattoo from San Antonio
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Yes let's break it down my grandparents parents aunts uncles cousins don't have any tattoos. Does that clear it up and friends don't
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Not everyone has tattoos
Cool tx is huge doesn't mean everyone has them
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
That is correct and I'd don't..I lived in San Antonio and didn't know anyone with tattoos yes it was looked down on so that's the stigma. I don't care myself. But their parents would cut them off if they did..not everyone in San Antonio has them
Knew many people from San Antonio who didn't
creatyvechaos@reddit
Washington, but I was being a little tongue-in-cheek lol. I know I don't have a user flair here.
ParrotheadTink@reddit
I’m 71F and have 15 tattoos
sai_gunslinger@reddit
Older people definitely have some tattoos. It's more common for older men to have tattoos than older women due to the social stigma against tattoos 50+ years ago, and you'll more commonly see them on men who served in the military or bikers.
As the social stigma has shifted, more and more people of all genders are getting tattoos. Jobs are becoming more relaxed about them so more people get ink they've always wanted. I'm 40 and I have 2 large ones, I'm dreaming up my third.
I know quite a few people who are heavily tattooed. One of my cousins, also 40, has a goal to be completely covered from the neck down. She's working on a neck piece now, has two sleeves, a chest piece, a huge back piece, and many individual ones scattered down her legs. Another cousin is covered in scattered individual tats. Two guys at work are covered in them. Plus a lot of other folks in my life. Of the people I know, it's close between the genders with slightly more women than men having at least one tattoo.
Limberpuppy@reddit
My mother was mid forties when she got her first one.
RodeoBoss66@reddit
I'll be 60 in a couple more months, and my sister is 57. I don't have any tattoos myself, but she has several in various locations on her person, mostly her hands, arms, and legs.
poppyvue@reddit
My husband’s first (and only) tattoo was at 60. And my brother’s first at 67. late bloomers
Shop-S-Marts@reddit
Once you have a tattoo, it's usually there forever...
ConfidentHighlight18@reddit
I got my first tattoo at 49.
Dazzling-Climate-318@reddit
Tattoos are generally considered negatively. Basically employees have tattoos.
For a long time tattoos have been considered working class, not management and not professional.
There also has been an association between criminals and tattoos as well.
And so while some successful individuals in a variety of fields have visible tattoos, most don’t.
The result is that older individuals have a tendency to not have tattoos unless they were a part of a marginal group while younger individuals now experience less negative effects of having tattoos.
And the positive effects, well, it’s unclear that there are any, so tattoos seem to be a loosing situation. They cost money, time, pain, are disliked by many. Other than being a conversation starter, they do not appear to have a benefit,
Note: there are some cultural traditions regarding tattoos which have some associations which may provide some benefit to some individuals who are a part of those cultures, however in most modern societies the adherence to tradition is discounted and itself is viewed as a negative.
Puddin_McPippi@reddit
I have never met an old person with a tattoo who was not young at some point.
bullettrain@reddit
Young people turn into old people
tigerowltattoo@reddit
I’m definitely a senior citizen and I have two tattoos.
MotherTeresaOnlyfans@reddit
I would encourage you to learn more about the history of tattooing and tattoo culture, as you seem to think it's significantly younger than it actually is.
The "American Traditional" tattoo art style in itself is older than literally anyone reading this post.
FatTribble2300@reddit
I'm 64 and have five so to answer your second question, yes.
YesterdaysMuffin@reddit
Yes. Older people have and get tattoos. We’re the ones who made it normal to get them.
VividFiddlesticks@reddit
How old is "older"?
I'm 51 and getting a sleeve tattoo started next month. My husband is 50 and just got a new tattoo last year.
We both have tattoos from when we were younger, too. Not a ton, just a couple each. My oldest tattoo is 23 years old.
No-Carry4971@reddit
Tattoos are everywhere in the US, to the point that the real rebels are the ones who don't have any.
efreeme@reddit
when I was young (56) tattoos were considered a way to be different.. Now they are just a way to be the same..
narwaffles@reddit
Well they’re permanent so you can’t really get rid of them when you turn old
ConstantCampaign2984@reddit
I been tattooing all sorts of old ladies lately.
PreviousGolf9541@reddit
Tattoos used to be highly risky, mostly for diseases like hepatitis c. Advances in hygiene in the 80s made them much more common starting in the 90s.
Longjumping-Eye-4257@reddit
70 years old. I have two and am about to get a 3rd.
erilaz7@reddit
One of my former female coworkers is in her 70s and has a lot of tattoos.
Alternative-Quit-161@reddit
My father got his first ink at the age of 87.
VirginiaLuthier@reddit
Yes, most definitely. My 81 year old neighbor just got one
Footnotegirl1@reddit
When i was a young person, tattoos were considered strongly to be only for people involved in alternative cultures (prisoners, soldiers, gang members, etc) and in fact having multiple tattoos was included in the DSM at that time as indicative of probable mental illness.
When i was a teenager/early 20's (very late 1980's to early 1990's) tattoos became more or an accepted thing in the general culture, and tattoo shops stopped being scary places in down-market areas and started looking more like high class salons. So if you're Gen X or younger, tattoos are considered a pretty normal thing for a person to have, but Boomers and Silent Generation types still consider them pretty scandalous and are less likely to have them.
NaturGirl@reddit
It also depends where in the US they grew up and have lived. I knew tons of people in my 20s (20-30yrs ago) that were twice my age with full sleeves and legs and torso tattoos. So, they'd be in their 60s-80s now...
No-Past2605@reddit
I am 69F and got my last one about three months ago. I like my tats
Appropriate-Food1757@reddit
My Dad really went for it in his 60’s. Had zero before that
No-Past2605@reddit
I had a couple before that on my ankles. I just decided that I wanted more and started in my late 50s. I have 10 now.
SaintJimmy1@reddit
This is anecdotal but I think a lot of Gen Z aren’t as into tattoos as previous generations.
Adventurous_Pin_344@reddit
Whereas if you're a millennial without one, who are you??
IMakeOkVideosOk@reddit
Nah, I’d say millennials are about 50/50 maybe even 40/60 not having them
Adventurous_Pin_344@reddit
Not the millennials I know, but I guess I just run with the cool kids 😉
IMakeOkVideosOk@reddit
Eh… at a certain point tattoos were follow the leader kinda thing. But still I’d say 50/50 not having any. But no judgement either way
haveanairforceday@reddit
In my area it seems much more common to have tattoos for younger people but they have a different approach. They get smaller pieces, they dont think of it as a big deal, and they dont have as much stigma around always exposed tattoos like hands and neck.
cryptoengineer@reddit
I find the current trend towards lots of small unrelated tattoos make people look like a middle schooler's doodle page.
Also, maybe I'm just old, but if you have facial tattoos, I will conclude you have poor judgement.
DummyThiccDude@reddit
A bunch of my family members ( all GenZ) have small ones. Usually something like a 2x2 that a studio did as a raffle or predesigned piece.
Sufficient_Cod1948@reddit
They are, but different styles of tattoos. Most younger people I see have smaller black linework, whereas someone once said they could tell I was a millennial from my large and colorful tattoos.
minicpst@reddit
Interesting.
I’m getting my first in several months. I’ll be 49, so a solid Xennial. It’s going to not be very big, but it’ll be the width of my forearm (I’m just not big enough to make it big). It’ll be colorful.
My daughter hasn’t scheduled anything, but she knows what she wants. And it’s a black line work tat.
My teenager doesn’t know exactly what they want yet. They’re not old enough to get it, but they’ll probably get one right after their 18th birthday.
Constant-Gap-1329@reddit
Anecdotally, as a college professor who spends more time with Gen Z than I’d like..they seem to have a lot of tattoos.
I took a class to a foreign country and about half the class got tattoos and piercings as souvenirs. I got a canvas shopping bag as my souvenir. 🤷♀️
MamaPajamaMama@reddit
Definitely not true for my area. My 22 yo has at least 6 now, I've lost count. The 19 yo has one and is planning his next one. I would say maybe half of their peers have them, probably more for my older one.
tarheel_204@reddit
I’ve actually noticed the opposite. I’m 28 and it seems like every other person around my age has at least one
OldBlueKat@reddit
I think there is also some cultural/ ethnic variation in popularity.
I feel like I see more ink on Asian and Native American people? Not sure.
I also think it became a lot more common for women in the last few decades. You hardly saw girls with tats in the 80s, but it started creeping in during the 90s?
SaintJimmy1@reddit
I agree I see many more women my age with visible tattoos than I see men.
OpposumMyPossum@reddit
Agree. It feels like very uncool parents have tramp stamps and tribal bands and they are staying away.
It was so popular in the 1990s with folks trying to be cool.
Ok-Equivalent8260@reddit
My son loves getting tattoos (he’s 21)
ruddy3499@reddit
There so common now that it’s kinda boring
AWTNM1112@reddit
You know tattoos are permanent, right?
gfunkdave@reddit
When I was a kid (I’m 47 now) I distinctly remember my parents telling me that tattoos were for lower class people.
Now, I have a lot of friends with tattoos. I am thinking about getting one myself. I just don’t know what I’d want on me forever.
I think the stigma around them (tattoos are only for lower classes and sailors) has pretty much gone away.
Wen60s@reddit
I got my last tattoos at the age of 70 🤷♀️ got my first at 40.
Hwy_Witch@reddit
My parents are mid/late 60s and have tattoos. My grandmother is 83 and has one, I'm mid 40s and have several, plan on more, my sister is 20s and also has them. Define "old" and "young".
EgyptianGuardMom@reddit
I don't know what you mean by older but I got my first tattoo at 45.
Shadow_Lass38@reddit
Yes, older people do get tattoos, especially fannish people.
Extension_Variety190@reddit
Most older people who have tats have maybe one or two, they're usually smaller and well hidden.
It's not like today where EVERY other kid HAS to ink up their entire body.
And the dumbest part is, now that it's a "cool trend", the fact that you're getting inked so much means you're not just another conformist because when every other kid under thirty has ink, it's not special anymore.
ciaobella267@reddit
My grandfather had tattoos. He would be almost 100 if he were still alive.
rco8786@reddit
We all got em
InviteForsaken2857@reddit
I'm 55. Got my first tattoo at 29 and my most recent at 52. I have 9 all together.
Robot_Alchemist@reddit
Now they do
calm-down-okay@reddit
We export them before they get too old
BrainFartTheFirst@reddit
My mom got one when she turned 60.
tranquilrage73@reddit
Younger people who have tattoos eventually become old people with tattoos. So the answer is, "yes."
Diabolik900@reddit
Young people with tattoos tend to grow into older people with tattoos.
BookLuvr7@reddit
Yup. Or older people with regrets depending on how much they like said tattoos.
Illustrious-Shirt569@reddit
Especially said tattoos after aging and gravity change them drastically.
BookLuvr7@reddit
That's basically the biggest reason why I've always been hesitant to get one. I've got so many surgical scars etc too I'd be a mess.
OldBlueKat@reddit
There’s a special subcategory I’ve heard about.
Women who’ve had mastectomies leaving nasty scars and either don’t want or can’t have implants have sometimes worked with tattoo artists to create something that incorporates the scar, sometimes creates a ‘nipple’ image, etc. It’s a cool idea to sort of ‘take back your body’ from what you’ve been through.
Severe_Feedback_2590@reddit
My gyn had a full chest tattoo after her mastectomy. There are artists who do 3d nipple tattoos that look real.
OldBlueKat@reddit
That’s wonderful. I’d heard bits about it somewhere and was amazed.
BookLuvr7@reddit
That's awesome.
camarhyn@reddit
I think you mean “ragrets” in the tattoo context.
BookLuvr7@reddit
Baha yes you have a point.
expomac@reddit
not if i get to them first
byebybuy@reddit
Plot twist: he owns a tattoo removal business.
raviyoli@reddit
Yes but still murders them afterwards.
Chester_Allman@reddit
Indeed; many old people used to be young people.
bloodectomy@reddit
Big if true
1Negative_Person@reddit
Sometimes.
sighing-through-life@reddit
Most of my nursing home residents have tattoos, if that says anything.
jeeves585@reddit
40s. No tattoos but it was a money thing when I was younger. I’d a rather have made my car faster or bought a new toy/tools.
My wife has tats and no fast cars or cool toys.
It’s spread between religious and memorials or biblical versus.
If I did it would be toe to finger of a story that I would add to every now and then
mvrphy007@reddit
If you get a tattoo Santa doesn't get you a gift
IcyBodybuilder9004@reddit
When I was growing up, all the old guys had tattoos from WW2. They were kind of ashamed of them really. But now it is popular with younger people again.
Bright_Eyes83@reddit
this could only possibly be true for one generation, and that was long ago
VanDenBroeck@reddit
I’m 68 and have tattoos.
Obliviousobi@reddit
Once. Americans reach a certain age their tattoos absorb into their skin and disappear. No old people with tattoos here.
FoggyGoodwin@reddit
I got a tattoo when I was 30ish. I'm not going to have it removed, so older people have tattoos. Did you mean to ask if older people get tattoos. I would guess that they do.
Boxfullabatz@reddit
I'm 70. Got my first ink at 19. At Lyle Tuttle in San Francisco if ykyk. Most recent was about 10 years ago
ChaChiBaio@reddit
I’m 51 and when I was a kid only sailors, bikers, hookers, and barflies had tattoos. Around 2000 it blew up for people around the age of 20 and just grew from there.
Top-Web3806@reddit
Nope, once you hit 40 they disappear automatically.
Jk. Obviously. Americans have been getting tattoos for many years now. Many of those people are now “old”.
RobustDude79@reddit
66 this year. About 15 tattoos, a strike brand, and a scarification.
Also (surprise) several piercings.
scipio79@reddit
Tattoos are super commonplace these days. It seems almost rare to find someone who doesn’t have any at all
AcanthaceaeOk3738@reddit
Well,if you get one when you’re young it doesn’t go away …
SavannahInChicago@reddit
They got really popular when I (millennial) became a teen. Growing up the older generation really were against them and saw them as trashy and low class.
Now, the oldest millennial is around 45 and we still love them as does the generations after us. So in the next few decades retirement homes will be full of people with tattoos.
melina26@reddit
I got one at 51 and am now in my seventies
Somethingisshadysir@reddit
They were a young person's thing for Gen X. They're now middle aged, as are elder millennials. They're just multigenerational now.
Evening_Culture_42@reddit
Well, eventually they do. Get a tattoo when you're 20 then wait 50 years.
jjmac@reddit
I got mine in the 80's. My host mom said "ivy league students don't get tattoos"
funktion666@reddit
So many people have tattoos. So many people don’t.
I know many 55 year olds with tattoos. And I know many twenty something’s with no tattoos.
Tattoos aren’t an age thing imo. It is more popular and acceptable with younger people. But younger people have more face tattoos and jobstopper tattoos. Younger people also have more piercings and color hair.
But again, I know several people over 50 with color hair. Idk anyone over 50 with face tattoos though.
Bottdavid@reddit
My grandfather, who was born in 1946, had tattoos. My father does not. I have tattoos. It's completely optional and subjective.
Medium-Ad-7305@reddit
They aren't very popular with young people today, at least where I live. Older people have tattoos, but thats largely because it was a young person thing when they were young.
Remote_Pick_1952@reddit
I'm 68, I have 4 tattoos. I got my first one as an adult
Schmancer@reddit
I still have all the tattoos I had when I was young now that I’m older
cappotto-marrone@reddit
My husband and I joke we’re the last people without tattoos. I’m 68 and my mother had a tattoo.
AbilityAdventurous22@reddit
Yes but it’s also changed a lot over the years, a lot of older people don’t have tattoos that were done as well as they can do them today and I don’t think it was as common. There was also a time where being tattooed came with a certain stigma that you were bad and it would make getting a job hard whereas nowadays any profession I think you could have tattoos
MagnetAccutron@reddit
Oh dear god. Just got off of a cruise to Bermuda from NJ
The amount of ugly, Old person tattoos we had to witness was amazing.
Old and ugly.
Larc42@reddit
I'm 60, got my first one a year ago.
Doldrum0@reddit
I'm not sure it's ever been an age thing. I'm in my late 30s and have quite a few starting from my 20s. But I know people in their 70s that have a lot too. There have definitely been times where they're less or they're more "socially acceptable" though
Conscious-Mulberry17@reddit
Depends on who you are and where you live. I’m 53, heavily tattooed, and am professional living in a mid-sized city. I don’t even stand out here. Nobody pays me any mind.
RudeRooster00@reddit
Young people get tattoos. They get old, now old people have tattoos.
DifferentTheory2156@reddit
My husband bought me a tattoo for my 65th birthday. He said he did it so that i would always remember to think young. I love it and get compliments all the time.
Constant-Prog15@reddit
Im 57 and have 3, but got my last one over 20 years ago. I have an idea for a couple, so I might add to my total soon.
Daffodil_Peony_Rose@reddit
What do you think happens to young people after 40-50 years pass?
grizzlyginger17@reddit
My grandpa is 81, wanting his 3rd tattoo. I took him for his first 2 which he got in his 70s. The first one he waited until my grandma was on a business trip 😂
OldRaj@reddit
Very common in military, became surprisingly popular with the youngsters and these younger women just started blazing a path with them about ten years ago.
Such_Detective_6709@reddit
My boss has more tattoos than I do n
Agitated-Sock3168@reddit
<"Do older people also have tattoos?"
Why would they not?...the ink doesn't breakdown and disappear after 30-40 years. I've known people in their 40s and 50s getting their first tattoos, or adding to what they already have.
NoFleas@reddit
Soldiers in ww2 were heavily tatted - it's not a young person thing
angrywithnumbers@reddit
My grandpa born in 1923 had tattoos but he was in the Navy in WWII.
Crafty_Lady1961@reddit
I’m 65 and both my grandparents (both in the military) had tattoos.
Lilylake_55@reddit
I got both my legs tattooed from hips to ankles 51 years ago, when I was 20.
At that time few people in the US had tattoos, the ones that did were usually military. Though rock group members got a lot. The artist that did my legs also did work on a member of Guns N’ Roses.
Women with tattoos were extremely rare outside of tattooed ladies in the circus and the like. So as a woman with tattoos (and a whole lot at that), I drew a LOT of stares and comments whenever I wore shorts. Most of the comments tended to be on the negative side.
Tattoos were so unusual that when a politician got a largish tattoo of a tiger on his shoulder/back it was talked about in the news. 🙂
But just about that time, tattoos began to catch on. Mostly among younger people like myself, but before long you began to see more and more, on all ages of people and on both men and women.
These days it seems like everyone, regardless of age, has at least one tattoo. They are so mainstream that over the past 20 years a lot of businesses have dropped “no visible tattoos” policies.
Fun_Machine7346@reddit
Sailors and criminals only. (Sent from 1975)
Greenearthgirl87@reddit
I know a lot of genX that have multiple tattoos. Myself included. I also know that we had to keep them hidden for a lot of jobs/careers. Eventually the taboo of the visible tattoo went away. It was pretty silly. I also remember when we were required -gasp- wear pantyhose. I never did and got in trouble for it more than not. I was a great employee so they looked the other way in terms of doing more than scold me.
AtheneSchmidt@reddit
I'm 40 and other than myself, I only know 2 other people in my age group who never got a tattoo.
I'm gonna say no, not a young person's thing unless you consider 40 young.
Global-Biscotti-9547@reddit
I got my first one for my 55th birthday. Got a second one a few years later.
lovemesomezombie@reddit
Female turning 60 soon and have 12 tattoos.
Relevant_Airline7076@reddit
I think it’s a younger person’s thing to constantly be planning your next one, but the vast majority of people I know (of all adult ages) have at least one.
My parents and step parents all have multiple; my mom has gotten two in the past five or so years, but I don’t think my stepdad has gotten any in the past 20. Even my grandma has one. All of my friends near my age (late twenties) have multiple and have plans to get more, I have 16 as of yesterday and want so many more. Interestingly, to my knowledge none of my siblings have any.
patty202@reddit
I'm almost 60 and considering getting my first tattoo.
473713@reddit
I'm a woman over 75 and I have a couple small tattoos I got more than 50 years ago. I was never a biker or military -- if anything I was mildly hippie. The tattoos are blurred and faded now and I tell younger people "this is how all your fine line work will look in 2075."
groundciv@reddit
My parents are turning 70 in the next 12 months and are both tatted up. I think my little brother avoided tattoos, but my sister and I both have quite a few in our middle age. My grandpas both had a few, moms dad got one in the pacific in the 40’s and dads dad got a few between Korea and Vietnam.
Fifalvlan@reddit
Young people with tattoos eventually become old people with tattoos
PeterNippelstein@reddit
If they play their cards right
PeterNippelstein@reddit
Theyre called Gen X
Hoopajoops@reddit
Yeah, older people do still have them, but it's far more common for younger people to actually get them and then they just never get them removed as they age. I'm sure there are still plenty of tramp stamps and barbed wire arm bands out there
Vyckerz@reddit
Sadly the tattoo frenzy has become pretty common in both younger and older people.
Young women in my area are pretty much all sporting some tattoos. I see a ton in the gym and at the supermarket. Getting so when I see a girl with no obvious tattoos it's a rarity.
A lot more young guys are as well than I ever remember.
All the 40-50 something new divorcee women get them to celebrate their new found independence or whatever they tell themselves
I saw an older women the other day who looked like a regular old lady/grandmother with a new looking prominent tattoo down her forearm. I was taken aback by that.
thats-gold-jerry@reddit
People of all ages have them.
NotUntilTheFishJumps@reddit
Older people definitely have tattoos, especially older men that were in the military/deployed. It isn't as common as it is with younger people, but it isn't uncommon.
SelectionFar8145@reddit
They've slowly become more normal to have over successive generations. For a long time, you were unlikable, if they were anywhere on your body that couldn't be covered up with a uniform. Then, it was restricted to just the head/ face. Now, I believe its not seen as that much of an issue. If you hire someone whose entire body is one big tattoo, you just have to accept it as an existing condition.
outloud230@reddit
I’m 55 and started getting tattooed at 30, so take from that what you will.
Kriegerian@reddit
Define “older”.
Constellation-88@reddit
I mean, if you get a tattoo at 25, you’re still going to have it when you’re 70. Tattoos became more popular in the 70s-80s, although they’re only now mainstream. But we do have some 70 year olds with tattoos they got in the 70-80s.
deterioratingflesh@reddit
A lot of people of all ages have tats. 25-45 year olds most commonly but people over 50 also have tattoos, and in my experience growing up in San Diego, the 55+ crowd with tattoos tends to be Navy veterans but that could be availability bias
YoshiandAims@reddit
People of all ages have tattoos.
WorkerAmbitious2072@reddit
Millennials seem to have the most
MountainTomato9292@reddit
I’m 48, started getting tattoos at 42, am up to 4 with plans for several more.
Electronic_Horror_56@reddit
My buddy is 64, full sleeves, and planning more out. He's young at heart
markmakesfun@reddit
Every age range over 18. More young than old, but all ages play the game.
ScarletDarkstar@reddit
Considering they are permanent, yes, older people still have tattoos. Older people still get tattoos, as well.
Young people have a tendency to think they just discovered things that have been around quite a while.
Usual-Bag-3605@reddit
My mom was 45 before she got her first tattoo. And when my nephew was killed, almost everyone in the family got the same tattoo to honor him, including my 85 year old grandma and 87 year old grandpa.
Bluemonogi@reddit
Some older people have tattoos and some don’t. When I was growing up I only knew my one uncle to have tattoos. He is no longer living. He would be 86 if he were still alive.
My mother in law has some tattoos. She was born in 1960.
My husband has one tattoo but I have zero.. We are in mid 40’s and early 50’s.
My 26 year old daughter has zero tattoos.
Tattoos are fairly common for 30-40 year olds.
GlobalTapeHead@reddit
They became more accepted in the early to mid 1990’s. That’s when you started seeing the tribal, the barbed wire and the tramp stamps everywhere. That was with Gen X (which is my generation). So they are reasonably common or acceptable with people under the age of 60 today. Maybe common is not an accurate word, but that’s the generation that stopped seeing tattoos as meaning you have been in jail, in a biker gang or a sailor.
yiotaturtle@reddit
Younger people tend to get them. But the younger people age. Though I've known quite a few that got their first ones in their 40s.
ivylass@reddit
Define old. I got my first tattoo in my 50s.
ma1butters@reddit
Nah, when you turn 40, you shed them like a snake.
MoonieNine@reddit
My friends are in their 40s through 60s and pretty much all of them have tattoos. Nowadays you're kind of an outlier if you don't have a tattoo. That's kind of why I don't have any. Why follow the crowd?
MoonieNine@reddit
Even my dog and one of my cats has a tattoo. That sometimes put a small tattoo line on their belly to signify that they have been fixed.
pumainpurple@reddit
I am an older person with tattoos that I acquired as a young person. I still love them.
No-Sail-6510@reddit
Well, the thing about tattoos is that they’re permanent.
Educational_Horse469@reddit
It seems like most people who are really into tattoos are in the 30-50 age range. But that’s just anecdotal. My husband and are mid 50s and almost none of our friends have tattoos. Our kids and their friends don’t have any interest either.
EvenLettuce6638@reddit
At this point it's more bold to not have a tattoo.
ColumbiaWahoo@reddit
More popular in younger people but you still see some older people with them. I personally don’t have any since I worry about regretting them.
IrememberXenogears@reddit
I got my first tattoo at 39.
BAMspek@reddit
I’ve heard that the younger generations aren’t getting tattoos as much because they see it as a Gen X/Millennial thing. I don’t know if that’s true though I just live on the internet and grass is disgusting.
reliableotter@reddit
My Mom got a tattoo for her 60th birthday
SecretCitizen40@reddit
When you turn 35 your tattoos fall off.
People generally get tattooed while younger but they're permanent. Yes older people get new tattoos as well, my 60+ year old mother got a new tattoo this year.
Neat-Ad11@reddit
Since they’re mainly permanent, they will soon enough be an old people thing.
verminiusrex@reddit
Tattoos have become mainstream in the US, so you see people of all ages with tattoos. I'm 56 and have two that are less than 4 years old, and I see older people with tattoos all the time.
Large_Score6728@reddit
Tattoos are permanent once it’s on it will be with you when you’re old
Total_Diet_5274@reddit
I’m 60 and I’m tattooed.
KyleAltNJRealtor@reddit
Mine disappeared the day I turned 30. I thought that happened to everyone?
SaladCzarSlytherin@reddit
When I was getting my 3rd tattoo there was an old woman in the shop getting her first tattoo.
But In general people tend to get them when they’re younger.
SheZowRaisedByWolves@reddit
Yeah but also My mom got ink at 55
La_noche_azul@reddit
Tattoos are not as popular as they used to be, people are a lot more intentional with tattoos now. Back in the day people would literally get anything blasted on themselves
sneezhousing@reddit
Well young people turn into old people when I was young that was very true. However now that I'm approaching middle age everyone that got one in their 20's still has it and more
PickleQueen24@reddit
My mom just got her first tattoo at 65!
Initial_Fill_2655@reddit
Dolly Parton say she has tatoos tattoos
themistycrystal@reddit
I'm 70 and have a tattoo. It's so old you can't tell what it is any more. My granddaughter informed me we are getting matching tattoos this summer so there's that.
Baebarri@reddit
69F. Got my first tattoo in my 40s, many more in my early 60s. I have gauged ears and multiple piercings too.
idkbutitsoundsgood@reddit
my grandma has multiple tattoos, its definitely not just a young persons thing
ToneBeneficial4969@reddit
There's a generational divide. Today's youth not so much as 10 years ago but they're still around.
NekoMao92@reddit
Pretty much all ages.
I've noticed that many of the providers in my area have tattoos.
Hatty_Girl@reddit
Can't wait for this trend to end 🤦♀️
Wide_Breadfruit_2217@reddit
Depends on what you think is old. But does get to a point 70+ when thinning skin-ink bleeding where it may not come out right.
bdrwr@reddit
It's less common in older age groups, but tattooing has been around long enough that you can find old grandpas who are all inked up.
There's also still some regional variations. On the west coast, everyone and their mother has a tattoo. In the south, where old fashioned Christian attitudes are still pervasive, you sometimes meet people who still believe that only criminals have them.
My dad, who has a small tattoo on his chest, even went on a date with a woman recently, in upstate New York, who said she could NEVER date somebody with tattoos! They didn't have a second date, but I don't think she knows the real reason lol
RitaGB@reddit
I got my first one (of six) on my 60th birthday. I got my latest one on my 70th birthday. So, yes, we do.
angrypuggle@reddit
The heyday of the tramp stamp was a while ago.
Char_siu_for_you@reddit
I’m 49 and pretty heavily inked. I of course got my stuff when I was young. The thing about tattoos is, they’re forever.
dildozer10@reddit
My grandfather had tattoos, but he was in the Navy during WW2 so it was probably normal amongst sailors. It was considered to be a “bad boy” kind of thing in the rural Bible Belt and only became acceptable fairly recently.
Elle_Duderino@reddit
I got my first tattoo at 33
Vegetable-Star-5833@reddit
My mom just got one last year and she is 57
Ashamed_Blackberry55@reddit
Many older people have tattoos they got while they were younger, but it’s not common for them to keep getting them. Though that’s mainly because skin starts thinning and sagging as we age. Or like with my father, he’s 67 and has a ton of tattoos, but he had to stop getting them about 10 years ago when he had a combination of going on blood thinners for his heart and getting psoriasis (I think that’s what it is, if not a similar topical skin condition that doesn’t mix well with tattoos).
count-brass@reddit
OP, are you asking if old people have tattoos, or if old people get tattoos?
haveanairforceday@reddit
Its pretty common between about 20 and 50. Older generations generally are more adverse to them. But my grandparents both had several visible tattoos that they started getting when they were in their 50s
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Wow your grandparents had tattoos
haveanairforceday@reddit
OP: "Do older people have tattoos?"
Me: "not tons but yeah some, i know a couple"
You: "WOW, MR BIGSHOT OVER HERE"
What point are you trying to make?
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Huh?
VRTravis@reddit
My mom is 79 and has 6. She got them in her 60s. I am 51 and have 0. It's an all age thing really.
Traditional_Entry183@reddit
When I was a teenager in the 90s, they were absolutely a fringe thing. People who were edgy and dangerous. But basically immediately from that point forward, they became really common, so lots of Gen X people have them.
Manderthal13@reddit
I (M59) have tattoos on my arms. My stepfather was born in 1927. He was in the Seabees fighting in the pacific during WWII. He had tattoos all up and down both arms. My FIL is 81 with tattoos on arms and legs. Brothers in my motorcycle club have skull and neck tattoos. The idea that tattoos are young and edgy is ridiculous. Young people getting tattoos are conforming.
meenadu@reddit
I’m almost 60 I got my first tattoo in the early 90’s. I got my most recent one a couple of years ago. I’m ready for more ink. I have about 10. Not covered but definitely inked up.
Friendly-Horror-777@reddit
Nah, they suddenly disappear when you reach 45.
Charming-Sea8571@reddit
I’m 54 and I have 3.
Josephcooper96@reddit
Generally some old people do frown on it but that's the minority. Ive known people of all ages whos had a tattoo vs the ones who dont
Longjumping-Barber98@reddit
I got my first and only tattoo at 40.
Freedom_891@reddit
Yes, people of all ages still get tattoos. You do see a lot of older people with tattoos that were obviously done in their youth. I would say, getting new tattoos is more common with younger people. However, I know a woman who just got her first tattoo at 62!
SushiGirlRC@reddit
I wanted a tattoo since I was 14. I got my first at 50. I have 5 now, one large.
Sunshineboy777@reddit
My parents are in their upper 50s and have a few tattoos. I've seen people of all ages with them, but I think they were more niche with boomers and prior?
BaconEggCheeseToGo@reddit
GenX was the first generation where it became common. We aged, so yup!
Cock--Robin@reddit
I’m 66 have a tattoo, as does my 63 year old wife, and and growing up my dad had a tattoo. So, no.
ZorroMcChucknorris@reddit
I got my last tattoo in Sydney in 2024 when I was 51.
julnyes@reddit
Tattoos became very mainstream with Gen X so there are a load of people in their 50s and 60s with tattoos.
Beneficial_Zone_6883@reddit
I’m older and myself, my mom and many older friends have tattoos. The generation older than me often had tattoos not sure how it started that people claim the 70s had no tattoos. There were easily 25 tattoos parlours in my city long before Y2K 😂
OldBlueKat@reddit
I think some of it was, during the initial Aids panic in the 80s, people were thinking it could be transmitted by tattoos. There was a lot of stupid stuff about that in the Reagan years, and a bit of backlash about getting tats.
It reversed dramatically in the 90s.
Particular-Move-3860@reddit
Silent Generation: The only members who had tattoos were sailors who had gone on shore leave at Asian seaports.
Baby Boomers: A few had one or two small tatts, but seriously we were much more into wearing warpaint if anything.
Gen X: "Do what to my body?"
Millennials: Tattoos tended to conflict with and obscure their piercings.
GenZ: Tattoo You.
Particular-Move-3860@reddit
EDIT: Great Depression/World War II Generation: "You know, they tattooed us at the CAMPS, don't you?/"
My_Lovely_Me@reddit
Right now, most tattoos are on middle-aged and younger people. Anyone older than middle-age who has tattoos is/was probably a biker, or had some other affiliation that often incorporated tattoos.
Before my dad died last year at 82, he told me the reason he had been so against us (his kids) getting tattoos was because when he was growing up, the only people who had tattoos were criminals. He said it was, like, a clear and hard line that everyone understood: good and upstanding people don't have tattoos, gang members and convicts did.
It took MANY years of his good and upstanding kids getting nice tattoos that represented things he approved of before he realized how much the times had changed.
He was actually encouraging me to go get my last tattoo back in 2022! So he came nearly full circle in his thinking! He never did get one himself, but if he'd lived just a few more years, we may have been able to talk him into getting his own!
Few-Might2630@reddit
Most people under 40 have tattoos
annang@reddit
Nope, only about 40-45% of adults under 40 have tattoos.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/08/15/32-of-americans-have-a-tattoo-including-22-who-have-more-than-one/
anneofgraygardens@reddit
The most interesting part of that study to me is the huge discrepancy between LGBT+ people and straight people. It does sort of match up with my personal experience but I'm still surprised the gap is that large.
she-dont-use-jellyyy@reddit
And they'll still have them when they're over 40.
Source: am over 40, still have my tattoos
JudgeJuryEx78@reddit
Mine didn't fall off either.
annang@reddit
The factual, numerical answer to this question is the first search result in DuckDuckGo for “popularity of tattoos in the US by age.”
32% of Americans have at least one tattoo, including 13% of people over 65 and 25% of people 50-64 years old. Tattoos are most common among people ages 30-49; 46% of them have tattoos.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/08/15/32-of-americans-have-a-tattoo-including-22-who-have-more-than-one/
OldBlueKat@reddit
Cool to see an actual ‘check the data’ reply.
I like the further breakdown in the article by gender, etc.
Women getting inked was less common compared to men 50+ years back, so that’s the most interesting shift to me.
And it seems like a fair bit of it was middle-aged women deciding to get it their first tat for some reason or other?
Hunh.
trwaway80@reddit
Just a young people thing. The day you turn 30 in the US they magically disappear.
FiddleThruTheFlowers@reddit
Can confirm. I'm in my 30s and try as I might, every tattoo I've gotten since hitting the big 3-0 just vanishes within seconds of the needle hitting. The ones I had before my 30th birthday ran away overnight, and I woke up on my 30th birthday to blank skin. It's really fascinating magic.
achaedia@reddit
Awkward. I got all three of my tattoos after the age of 30.
JudgeJuryEx78@reddit
They'll disappear on their own eventually, at the same time you do.
Past_Worker_8262@reddit
Well then that is why they did not dissappear
Far-Building3569@reddit
Most people with tattoos that would be considered “mainstream” (like not sideshow performers, heavy metal musicians, prisoners, or sailors) seem to be millennials-gen z
The oldest millennials are 45 though so like… 🤷♀️ 🤷🤷♂️
bellegroves@reddit
When I met my husband's grandfather for the first time, we shook hands, he saw my forearm tattoo, and his very first words to me were, "That's permanent, you know!"
Yes, old people mostly still have the tattoos they got when they were young.
fadedtimes@reddit
Used to be , but now see people of all ages with them
GinX-@reddit
I'm 60 yo woman with a ton of tats.
whatsupgrizzlyadams@reddit
In the 90s the attitude surrounding tattoos changed. My Dad has them from being in the military and he hates that I have them. My FIL gave me crap also. I got my first tatt in 1995 when I was 25.
Im 58 and im working on a sleeve.
thingsbetw1xt@reddit
Everyone has tattoos nowadays.
RevolutionaryBug2915@reddit
Everyone does not.
thingsbetw1xt@reddit
Holy shit you're so right dude I definitely was saying that all 330-something million individuals in America have tattoos and definitely not making a generalized statement that tattoos are not rare or specific to any demographic.
Fuck off dork.
Past_Worker_8262@reddit
I mean you could get angry but he has a point.
Next time you can say "almost everyone seems to". This implies a majority in your opinion.
Not trying to attack; just trying to help.
Have a good one!
thingsbetw1xt@reddit
No, I'm speaking in a completely normal conversational way that anyone in a normal IRL conversation would understand, redditors just like to argue about bullshit for no reason. I will not be changing and I will continue being mean to people who leave idiotic comments.
Healthy_Theory159@reddit
Unfortunately 😞
EarlyInside45@reddit
I'm 58 and have been getting tattooed since I was 15, back when it was mainly counter-culture folks. My older sister got her first tattoo at age 64. It's for everyone now.
pinksparkleberry@reddit
Every young person who gets a tattoo gets old (unless they die).
Traditional_Trust418@reddit
No, tattoos are illegal if you're old. They make you laser them off once you turn 50
Minimalistmacrophage@reddit
Define old. Tattoos among the oldest living generations are not common. They become more common with younger generations (some of whom one might adjudge old)
plumberbss@reddit
I got my first tattoo at 19. That was 40 years ago. I just checked. It's still there
porkchopespresso@reddit
I feel like we might want to clarify how time works
front_rangers@reddit
Sorry everyone’s being such a smartass in here OP. Yes, as time has gone on, it’s become less and less taboo to get a tattoo. The percentage of 30 year olds with tattoos is way higher than the percentage of 50 or 60 year olds with tattoos. It was super countercultural to get a tattoo in the 50s and 60s (maybe excepting military tattoos?) but now it’s very very common. I’d say one in 3 people in their 20s has a tattoo now when it used to be maybe 1 in 500
Ok-Equivalent8260@reddit
My grandpa, who was born in 1923, was covered in tattoos.
front_rangers@reddit
That’s cool man. Very uncommon for men his age
OldBlueKat@reddit
Any chance he was a merchant marine as a young man?
There were definitely specific sub-groups that have done tats for generations. That was one group.
Accomplished_War_805@reddit
I started with tattoos in my 30s, now I'm mid 50s and I think that I got my last one at the end of April.
Famous-Pattern4364@reddit
I got my first tattoo at 60, going to add to it this year.
damnyankee26@reddit
Im 40 and have a full sleeve and two other smaller tattoos.
NAteisco@reddit
Are tattoos not permanent in other countries?
No-Resource-8125@reddit
My husband is getting tattooed right now at age 47, so no. All ages get tattooed.
Upper-Wave3638@reddit
I am 70. Although I have one tattoo, I told my millennial children, who all have tattoos, that their children probably would be more likely to name their children Agnes or Abner than to get tattoos themselves.
RVFullTime@reddit
Americans over 70 usually don't have tattoos. They tend not to look good on aging skin.
achaedia@reddit
I know several people in their 70s who have tattoos.
RVFullTime@reddit
I didn't say that nobody over 70 has tattoos. But it is less common.
ChewBoiDinho@reddit
Do you think the tattoos disappear when they grow older
sysaphiswaits@reddit
They don’t die after they get a tattoo, so yes.
GooseinaGaggle@reddit
I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, but young people start to get tattoos more often than older people
As some of the older people have said they got a tattoo into old age but if you ask them when they started getting tattoos they would say in their 20s to 30s, after that it's rare but not unheard of for a personto start getting tattoos
Same-Author4016@reddit
Two ladies I used to work with went to get their first tattoos together. One was in her early fifties and the other was late sixties. Tattoos are accepted in all age groups. It’s more about the location of the tattoo than the age of the person. Face tattoos are not as widely accepted
Auntie_Venom@reddit
My dad had 3 tattoos, he would have been 74 this year. He got them in the Navy in the early 1970s.
I have one (so far) it’s just the start of his memorial tattoo.
randousername8675309@reddit
No. When you turn 40 they make you scrape them off.
OldBlueKat@reddit
In the mid-20th century it was almost always only men, usually with a military, merchant marine, or prison back story about when and why they got inked.
So a lot of people decades back thought of it as kind of low class. That began changing as hippies, other ethnic and cultural groups, etc started treating it more as art.
So I think there’s a sliding attitude change. Most ‘over 60s’ wouldn’t want a tattoo themselves, but are getting less weirded out by it as many of their grandkids are sporting ink.
But as an old person myself, I will say I’ve seen some tats that don’t age well. A coworker a few years back made a rude joke about the 50ish woman he saw who had a Rose tattoo on her cleavage — “that stem was getting abnormally long!”
It was obnoxious to say, but he wasn’t wrong.
I’ve seen beautiful and striking ink, but I still don’t want to wear any.
Old-Hearing-9400@reddit
The people I see with the most tattoos tend to be elder millennials
Potential-Pop-1169@reddit
A lot of sailors got them as younger men then kept them when they got older.I had one man tell me he kept his as a monument to his stupidity.
imightb2old4this@reddit
I started getting tattoos at 55.
pippintook24@reddit
it's a young person thing. once you get to a certain age the tattoos you got when you were young will magically disappear.
SeaJewel333@reddit
I have tattoos and I am older and female. I got them when I was younger and I have multiple all over my body. Each was thoughtfully considered and decided upon. Only one was not, the one on my ankle. It was not well done but I accept that I have that. All the others I still love and have meaning to me. I have a back tattoo that is a huge tree that is also a woman with roots that extend down over my buttocks. I have one on my side that exstends over my right shoulder and over my sternum that is a phoenix bird with tail feathers down over my hip with triquetra symbols within the tail feathers. I have a rose on my left shoulder and a rose on the inside of my right thigh. I would have more but as I have grown older my healing ability has changed and I felt it was not a good idea to keep doing different ones. Bleeding is also an issue with certain medications I am on. I had wanted to get one on my left arm and hand but that will not happen.
chaosilike@reddit
Depends on what your consider old. Early millenials are like 40 now.
Also depends on the culture. America has many subset cultures. You wont find anyone in my mom's filipino church group having tattoos because in their time tattoos were associated with criminals.
imaginethat65@reddit
Almost every young person has tattoos or piercings in nose etc. Old people were probably in army when they got tattoos..not alot of old females have tattoos i think .
knowlessman@reddit
I see a lot of people day to day.
Of the people over 60, tattoos are uncommon but not unheard of.
Of the people 50-59, I think about 60% have tattoos.
40-49 it's probably 50%
For people 30-39, it's probably 30%.
For people 25-29, it's probably 20%, but the reason I split that decade is that for people 18-24 it's probably 30%. I think Covid probably cut the number of 18-24 year olds that got tattoos, 6 years ago.
It's really weird actually. People regularly tell me "I just turned 18" and show me the tattoo they got for their birthday.
So... no, they are not a young person thing. They are something that can happen at any age, and once they happen they rarely go away so the percentages go up with age. But they are also not a boomer thing.
A-Giant-Blue-Moose@reddit
Plenty of older folks do. My MIL and her boyfriend get something new every few months. Sometimes it's planned well ahead of time, and sometimes it's completely spontaneous.
Zealousideal_Lab_427@reddit
I got my first tattoo when I was 25, back in the ‘90s, and I got my most recent tattoos about a year ago. My husband got his first tattoo 5 years ago at 69 and his forearms are nearly filled.
So, tattoos are for anyone of any age.
professorfunkenpunk@reddit
Around the mid 90s, tattoos got much more socially acceptable. I got one in college, and was part of that wave where it wasn’t just for bikers and sailors anymore. But I only knew a few people that had one. 30 years later teaching college, I’d estimate a third or more of my students have visible tattoos.
I think as norms have changed, you see more young people with them
SweetOutrageous1275@reddit
Older Americans get tattoos too. They just don't tell the world🌎
elbarbalarga@reddit
At 30 I decided to keep an arm blank so I could get a fresh sleeve tattoo as an old guy. Now I'm an old guy (51), and we start the sleeve this July. Can't wait!
FormBitter4234@reddit
It’s been popular in the US since the early 90s
Healthy_Theory159@reddit
It's become a sickening vile fad. Too many people have them now. They're not cool or attractive to me. It taints attractiveness. I don't know how people find it attractive. You can't improve upon the natural beauty of the human body.
No-Assistance476@reddit
Of course... we don't erase them at a certain age......
Zadojla@reddit
My daughter has two tattoos. She got one in college. She got the second about 1-2 two years ago, and a nose piercing, at about 36 years old.
liebemeinenKuchen@reddit
My grandfather actually had a tattoo. He got it somewhere in Asia while in the Korean War. I loved sitting on his lap as a child, looking at it and trying to figure out how tf it was a rose. I’m 40 with a tattoo, husband is 40 and has 3, my MIL is 60 and has 8 - and some are very large. Idk what do you consider old? 😂
cHaNgEuSeRnAmE102@reddit
Younger people have many tattoos, older folks have tattoos too, but I find that older people got them when they were young now they’re very faded. Older people still get new tattoos, just not as frequent as younger folks.
TheBimpo@reddit
Young people started popularizing tattoos in the early to mid nineties, those people are now passing 50 years old.
ButterflyShort@reddit
Got my first at 42.
Quirky-Invite7664@reddit
They’re particularly popular in Hawaii
Klutzy-Comment6897@reddit
It’s a ghetto thing. Like lower social / economical and educational status.
Sure-Coffee-8241@reddit
Now everyone has them
CrabbyCatLady41@reddit
My grandfather had some tattoos. He was born in 1932 and got his tattoos when he was in the Army. None of my aunts and uncles or my parents, all born in the 1950s, had any. In my generation, at least in my family, most of us have at least one small tattoo and a couple of us have pretty substantial coverage. As do a lot of my friends born in the 70s and 80s!
witx@reddit
I got 4 tattoos after the age of 57.
BranBranMuffinWoman@reddit
My 79 yo grandpa started getting tattoos when he turned 60 and started losing the pigmentation of his skin more noticeably (he has vitiligo). He now has two full sleeves and the lower half of a leg done. My mom got her first tattoo at 45 when she went with me to get my first one at 19 and now she has several. We all go to the same tattoo studio but see different artists.
PeaTasty9184@reddit
They are MORE of a thing with young people. I’m about to turn 45, and there are definitely folks my age with a bunch of tattoos…far fewer people my parents age, far more people my nieces’ age.
wormbreath@reddit
How young is young and how old is old? Lol I’m…..middle aged ☹️ I guess and I’m moderately tattooed. Plenty of older and younger people a like.
Loud_Pomelo_2362@reddit
I got my first tattoo at age 40, then another within a year or two. Got 3 last year (age 57). Thinking of getting a 4th.
I only feel old sometimes so not sure what age you consider old…
Level_Appointment628@reddit
I don’t know if this is just me, but I notice way more women than men have tattoos. I almost think of it as a more feminine style. Even thinking of the men in my life with tattoos, they tend to be more on the effeminate side or are gay/bisexual. I am Gen Z for what it’s worth.
PushThePig28@reddit
My mom got her first tattoos in mid-late 60s. Shes got like 3 or 4 now
WoodpeckerForward188@reddit
I’m 70 and have had mine since I was 40ish. Want to get more.
LostArtofConfusion@reddit
I have friends who are approaching 70 who are all inked up.
Zatzbatz@reddit
Every age has tattoos. Literally wveryone at my job is covered in tattoos, no matter the age
biggreasyrhinos@reddit
One of my grandfather's had tattoos he got in the navy in the 50s, the other has no tattoos.
whisperworks@reddit
It’s become far less taboo over the last 20 years but it’s been a part of our counter culture for decades, if you spent time in the establishments that crowd frequents they’re very common
Now’s IS a great time to get into the removal industry though lol
Blossom73@reddit
I have three tattoos. I got all of them in my 40s.
ThotThroughTheHeart@reddit
I'm 54. I got one small tattoo in the 90s, and was talked into an ugly coverup in the early 00s. I've got 7 new tattoos in the last 8 years by letting my stepdaughter, and later my daughter, practice tattooing on me.
SheShelley@reddit
My therapist is in her 50s and got a tattoo not too long ago. I’m also in my 50s and have one but I got it almost 30 years ago.
MidSerpent@reddit
We have better tattoos, because we have money and taste.
Mental_Freedom_1648@reddit
They're a people over 18 thing. There used to be a lot of stigma, but things started to change in the 2000s (by my memory, but it could've been earlier). A lot of young people got them back then, and they're approaching middle-aged today.
Unusual_Memory3133@reddit
I’m 61 and have been heavily tattooed for 30 plus years. If anything, in my experience younger people these days tend to see tattoos as played out. It seems to be a point of pride to not have tattoos with some younger people.
Greyface13@reddit
Really old people have tatoos; they are not a new thing. 40 years ago the got way more popular, and the popularity will probably fade and come back again
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Could be
GasFartRepulsive@reddit
Tattoos gained main stream popularity in the mid-90s. There are a lot of people in their 40s and 50s with tattoos, less for the over 60 crowd
SplitOpenAndMelt420@reddit
I'd say tattoos are popular for people under 40 and people over 80
pyramidalembargo@reddit
OP, I'm 64 years old.
In our day, tattoos were not so popular. They were restricted mostly to sailors, or people who lived in the counterculture--bikers, etc. I'd say about 15% of the men had one.
They were very uncommon among women. It was seen as trashy.
Far_Anything_7458@reddit
I'm 63F and 75% of my body is solidly covered with tattoos. I was a tattoo artist for 35 years tho so it comes with the territory
ComesInAnOldBox@reddit
People who were once young and got tattoos are now old, and they still have tattoos.
As the years have gone by tattoos have become more and more acceptable by society at large.
catincombatboots@reddit
Tattoos are common from young people through Gen X-ers. With Boomers, its more common to have a tattoo if you were in certain branches of the military, or were a biker...but a lot of boomers also have negative associations with tattoos.
I'm a millennial and I don't have any tattoos. I often feel I am in the minority. My husband has tattoos. Most of my friends have tattoos. I'm not against tattoos, there's just nothing I've felt the need to have on my body for the rest of my life. I do like getting henna and having temporary decorations.
limbodog@reddit
People are more likely to get them when they are young. Yes. That's not to say people don't get them when they're older too. But eventually the skin ain't so happy being skin anymore, and it's probably smart to stop putting more holes in it when you're in your 80s.
she-dont-use-jellyyy@reddit
Do you think we just take them off when we get old?
thomsenite256@reddit
Old people have tattoos now. Much less true in the past
madogvelkor@reddit
My father in law is in his 60s and has a ton.
dariamarie13@reddit
Almost everyone has at least one imo. I have 9. 🤷🏻♀️
Fae-SailorStupider@reddit
My mom started getting tattoos in her 30s, shes in her 60s now and is planning her next one.
Limp_Dragonfly3868@reddit
My brother who is 67 has tats. Lots of his friends do as well.
No_Ratio_810@reddit
Yeah lots of people older have tattoos
MotherRow5590@reddit
Young people get tattoos more often than older people.
rawbface@reddit
OP, if you're young and considering getting a tattoo, please know that you will still have tattoos when you are old.
TutorNo8896@reddit
They've gotten increasing more popular over time, but also older folks arent showing off their tattoos on instagram as often.
bizoticallyyours83@reddit
Old people were young and wild once too.
Dry-Artichoke-68@reddit
I feel the need for a tattoo as I get older is less than I was younger. Also, I was often manic when I went into stages of getting tattoos when I was younger.
elphaba00@reddit
My dad got all his tattoos post-60 years of age. He's up to 6 or 7. I lost track
Worldly-Confusion759@reddit
Plenty of older people have lots of tattoos, but at the same time, I do think it's more common that younger people have them
Stressed_C@reddit
Older people have tattoos.