HUMANS have marked their bodies with tattoos for more than 5,000 years, from the famous Iceman who was carbon-dated at around 5,200 years old, to royal Egyptian women, and Soldiers fighting in the ...

Rob Ward shows his Pulse remembrance tattoo, featuring a rainbow pulse symbol coming from the nightclub's logo, for Orlando Sentinel on Thursday, June 10, 2021.

Memorial tattoos, which can include names, portraits and special artwork, are common in his line of work, but there’s been an increase in requests due to the pandemic.

At Tattoo Tribe in Newark, 30-year-old Miguel Prada, who said he took over the business several years ago, guessed about 30 to 40 percent of his customers come in for memorial tattoos.

Since tattoo parlors reopened after lockdowns, inkers have found that many people are eager to memorialize relatives and friends lost to the pandemic.

Memorial tattoos honor the dead and remind those left behind of their own mortality, said Jeff Greenberg, head of the University of Arizona's social psychology program.

Memorial tattoos have grown more popular in recent years. Since parlors reopened after the lockdown, inkers have found that many people are eager to memorialize relatives and friends lost to covid.

Shaquil Barrett, 30, is sharing a new tattoo he got in memory of his late daughter, 2-year-old Arrayah, who died in a drowning accident at the family home in late April.

People often get tattoos not only as a way to express their personalities but also to remember their deceased family members (even pet), and friends in the form of memorial or remembrance tattoos.

Memorial Tattoos: How Getting Inked Is Helping People Deal With Grief "I wanted to get a tattoo, I think to have a physical connection still with him.