Harris Poll has conducted a survey in the summer of 2003. The results were pretty amazing! There are approximately 15% of Americans (or about 40 million people) have at least one tattoo on their body. Back in 1936, there were only 10 million Americans with body tattoo or approximately 6% of the population. The number of people with tattoo in the United States has almost tripled in a span of 60 years. To break it down even further, 16% of American males has tattoo and about 15% of American women has at least one tattoo.

Harris Poll also revealed that 83% of people that got a tattoo had no regrets on their choice to get a tattoo, while 17% said they did regret having chosen to get a tattoo. Those that regretted getting a tattoo, 16% said it was because of a person’s name being the tattoo, or being included within the tattoo.

What does all this figures mean to someone who is planning to get a tattoo? Avoid getting the name of a person as your body tattoo! You may be in love with your partner right now, and you think by tattooing their name on your body is a way to prove your love. That may be a mistake. You do not know what will happen 2 or 5 years down the path. You may have a new partner. Imagine the pain you have to go through to remove the old tattoo from your skin. Stick to graphics or abstract design if you are planning to get a new tattoo. Spend some time browsing on the right tattoo design before you ink.