You've met that soul mate you've always sought out and decide it is time to show your faith and love through a tattoo. Yep, you're going to ink their name on your body...but should you?

A tattoo is a major commitment when it comes to putting someone's name on your body. If you are married, it isn't that big of a risk. The same is true if you are putting on the name of a family member or a child and so on. What we are really talking about here is the more recent form of love.

We are all looking for that magical man/woman/tree or whatever that will make us complete. If you've been through the love game at all, you know what may seem like the perfect relationship can seem not so perfect a few months later. If you have a tattoo on your arm of that person's name, you are going to have a problem if you subsequently break up.

All and all, getting tats of lover's names tends to be a bad move unless you have been together for a long time or are married. By "long time", we are talking about something more than a hot and heavy weekend or month. As a general rule, anything under a couple of years is asking for trouble. Obviously, it is a personal decision on your part, but just keep in mind you are going to be pretty angry if things don't work out.

If you must get a lover's name tattooed on your body, try to go with something smaller. Why? Always remember the Johnny Depp rule - if it is small, it can be changed. In his case, he had "Winona forever" on his arm because he was hot and heavy with actress Winona Ryder. After the break up, his tat artist was able to modify it to read "wino forever". It was a deft piece of work and one way to deal with the perfect lover who wasn't!

Love is a great thing. We've all been in love. When in love, we've all done great things, but we've all done some incredibly stupid things as well. For the most part, getting a lover's name inked on you is a bad move unless enough time has passed so that you are pretty sure the relationship is going to be more than a fling. On the other hand, live is short so do what you like!