Sign Your Name Across My Heart

Tattoos are increasingly popular as a way of showing one’s commitment to a loved one, due in no small part to their permanence. There are countless tales of young lovers getting each others’ names tattooed on one another in situations where they cannot practically get married, thus demonstrating a monogamous commitment to stay together come what may.

Even with the advent of laser surgery the removal of a tattoo is still an expensive and long-winded process, so if you’re getting someone’s name tattooed somewhere intimate you would be well advised to make sure that you both feel the relationship will endure. A future partner will never, no matter how brave a face they may put on, be comfortable with you carrying a reminder of a previous relationship – one which you once valued enough to mark yourself permanently.

Famously, the actor Johnny Depp got a tattoo while dating his then sweetheart Winona Ryder. It was on his right bicep and bore the legend “Winona Forever”. The relationship did not endure, and Depp’s present wife Vanessa Paradis may laugh outwardly when she sees the ink, now changed to read “Wino Forever” in honour of Depp’s fondness for wine. Inwardly, however, she would need to be a very strong woman not to cringe a little.

One case in which you can feel confident about a name tattoo is when you become a parent. That child will always be your son or daughter, so a permanent imprint of their name is something that you need never be embarrassed by – although you might find yourself looking at it differently the first time they get into some kind of trouble.