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When someone you love passes away, you might want to memorialize them with a tattoo. And tattoos can be a beautiful and creative way to honor someone you love. But not everyone wants a large or complicated tattoo design.
Intricate, large-scale tattoos can take a long time to complete, cost a lot of money, and cause more discomfort than many people want to endure. That’s why many people choose small, simple memorial tattoos instead. And the wrist is a perfect location for a small memorial tattoo if you want to see it every day.
If you’re not sure of the best small and simple wrist tattoo to memorialize someone, we’ll give you some ideas below.
Post-loss tip: Finding a unique way to memorialize your loved one might be just one of the challenges you're facing after a loss—especially if you're the executor of the person's estate. Our post-loss checklist can help sort out what you might need to do next.
Jump ahead to these sections:
- Memorial Wrist Tattoo Ideas to Remember Mom or Dad
- Memorial Wrist Tattoo Ideas to Remember Grandma or Grandpa
- Memorial Wrist Tattoo Ideas to Remember a Spouse or Partner
- Memorial Wrist Tattoo Ideas to Remember a Child or Baby
- Memorial Wrist Tattoo Ideas to Remember a Close Friend or Sibling
Memorial Wrist Tattoo Ideas to Remember Mom or Dad
How do you encapsulate everything your mom or dad means to you in a single small tattoo? It’s an impossible task, of course.
But you can choose a small, simple memorial tattoo that holds great significance to you. You can choose a symbol that represents your love for your parent and what their love meant to you.
Here are some simple memorial wrist tattoo ideas in memory of your mom or dad.
1. Family tree
Your mom or dad is often like the center of your family tree, with you and your siblings as the leaves or fruit. You can choose a simple tree silhouette to keep your memorial wrist tattoo small and uncomplicated.
2. Mom or dad
If you want to keep things simple, you can have your tattoo artist write “Mom” or “Dad” in an elegant, simple, and small font. You can have the word encircled in a shape, like a star or a heart.
3. Rest in peace
Many memorial tattoos, including small wrist tattoos, feature a “rest in peace” quote. There might be a quote that speaks to you, or you might choose to go with a simple, “Rest in Peace,” “Requiescat in Pace,” or “R.I.P.”
4. Flying bird
You can represent your mom or dad’s spirit with a small, simple bird’s silhouette on your wrist.
5. Big hand and little hand
You can represent your relationship with your mom or dad with a small tattoo of their hand (a larger hand) holding yours (a smaller one).
Memorial Wrist Tattoo Ideas to Remember Grandma or Grandpa
Choosing a memorial wrist tattoo to remember a grandma or grandpa is no easy task. Grandparents play many roles in our lives, from role models and caregivers to best friends. So how do you pick a memorial wrist tattoo that represents what your grandma or grandpa meant to you?
Here are some small and simple memorial wrist tattoos that might work for remembering your grandma or grandpa after they pass.
Tip: If you are looking for another great way to honor your loved one, you can start with an online memorial page. An online memorial is a place where family and friends can write tributes and even donate money to go toward funeral expenses or a charity organization. It's free and easy to create a beautiful online memorial page with Cake.
6. Tree roots
If your parents are the tree, as mentioned above, your grandparents are like the roots. A simple tattoo of a small tree with roots descending from the bottom could represent one or both of them. In this way, your memorial tattoo can represent your parents and your grandparents at the same time.
7. Heartbeat
A tattoo of a heartbeat monitor line can represent the final precious moment of your grandma or grandpa’s life. You can pair it with the word “grandma” or “grandpa” (or your nickname for them) or their date of death.
8. Fishing pole, knitting needles, or garden spade
You can translate your grandma or grandpa’s favorite pastime into a simple memorial wrist tattoo.
9. Rosary or prayer beads
If your grandma or grandpa was religious, you might choose an encircling tattoo or rosary or prayer beads.
10. Cross or religious symbol
Similarly, you could get a small, simple cross, star of David, or another religious symbol to represent your grandmother or grandfather.
Memorial Wrist Tattoo Ideas to Remember a Spouse or Partner
It’s always too soon to lose a spouse or partner. And as you go through the rest of your life, you might want a way to remember your loved one every day. If that’s what you’re looking for, a simple wrist tattoo might be a perfect choice.
Here are some small and simple wrist tattoo designs for remembering a spouse or partner.
11. Hourglass
Unfortunately, we can’t stop or turn back time and spend one last moment with the person we loved most. An hourglass tattoo represents that truth.
12. Anatomical heart
You can find small, simplified versions of an anatomical heart or design one with your tattoo artist. And an anatomical heart perfect for a memorial wrist tattoo memorializing your spouse.
13. Constellations
If you and your spouse had perfectly-matched star signs, you could get their sign’s constellation tattooed on your wrist. You could even get your own tattooed next to it or on the other wrist. You could even take this memorial one step further and name a star after them.
14. Infinity symbol
Your love for your spouse doesn’t go away when they pass away; it lasts forever. You can represent that infinite love with an infinity symbol tattoo on your wrist.
15. Lovebirds
Two birds sitting together on a branch, or flying together in silhouette, also represents your eternal love for your spouse or partner.
Memorial Wrist Tattoo Ideas to Remember a Child or Baby
You’ll never forget about your beloved child or baby, no matter how long you spent together. Choosing a special memorial idea for the loss of your child is an important way to keep their memory alive.
If you want a permanent reminder that you can carry with you anywhere you go, a simple wrist tattoo to help you memorialize your child or baby's life might be just what you want.
16. Balloons
Balloons represent the joy a child brings, as well as that joyful spirit ascending to the afterlife.
17. Zodiac sign
You can have your child’s zodiac sign (for example, an archer for Sagitarrius or two fish for Pisces) tattooed along with their name or birth date.
18. Little feet
A small wrist tattoo might be too tiny to tattoo an infant’s actual footprints. But you can represent the same idea with a simple tattoo of two feet, side-by-side.
19. Birthday spelled out
If you want to memorialize your child’s date of birth, you can use numbers or roman numerals. But you could also use words. For example, if your child was born on August 3, 2000, your tattoo could say, “August Third Two Thousand” in a lovely font.
20. Star and moon
A star and moon can help you feel reunited with your baby or child every time you look up at the night sky.
Memorial Wrist Tattoo Ideas to Remember a Close Friend or Sibling
Losing a close friend or a sibling is a life-changing experience, and you can find yourself feeling lost or adrift afterward. Keeping the memories of that friend or sibling close at hand, as with a memorial wrist tattoo, helps many people stay grounded. While this is one of many ways to remember a friend who died, you might find it to be the most comforting.
If you’re thinking about getting a memorial wrist tattoo to remember your close friend or sibling, consider these simple designs.
21. Tree leaves
If you already have a tree tattoo memorializing your parents, as described above, and even roots to represent your grandparents, you could add a leaf to represent your sibling.
22. Semi-colon
A semi-colon tattoo represents suicide prevention and awareness. If you lost your friend or sibling to suicide, you might find meaning in the semi-colon tattoo.
23. Feather
A feather represents the lightness of your friend or sibling’s spirit. It can help you remember the good times you shared together, as well as accept their passing.
24. Roman numerals
There are many ways to tattoo your friend or sibling’s birth date and death date on your wrist, but one of the most unique is with roman numerals.
Using roman numerals to write out your sibling or friend’s birth date and death date can result in an artful and creative memorial wrist tattoo.
25. Dragonfly
Dragonflies represent change and transformation, which is why many people and cultures have come to view them as symbols of death.
But dragonflies are positive representatives of passing on. In this way, a small and simple dragonfly tattoo can be a perfect way to memorialize your friend or sibling.
Small Tattoos with Big Meanings
A tattoo doesn’t have to be huge or consist of elaborate details to hold enormous meaning. It can be as small as a grain of rice and as simple as a single dot. What’s important when it comes to a memorial tattoo is what it means to you.
If you're looking for more guidance on memorializing a loved one, read our guides on memorial wall ideas and living memorial ideas.
