# How tall constitutes "tall?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 12, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979 "2016-02-12T23:14:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/41 "2016-02-14T16:36:28Z")
190cm for men. 180cm for women. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/42 "2016-02-14T18:03:40Z")
I’m 5’8" and taller than most of my female friends, and some of my male friends too. I’m taller than my mom, my sister, and my female cousins. I do have two female friends at work who are both about 6’. I joke with them that I feel short standing next to them. I don’t consider myself to be tall, just above average height for a female. I do get asked by shorter people to reach stuff on the top shelves at the grocery store, it just happened again today! I consider any female taller than me to be tall, and any male taller than my 6’4" dad was to be tall. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/43 "2016-02-14T21:16:33Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > … I’m 6’3", and I always thought tall traditionally started at 6’ for men. But if you come up to below my shoulders, you’re definitely not tall. I always expected you stood out on a city street down there, but you stand out even more than I thought! 🙂 I’m 5’11" when I stand military straight & 5’10" with my more typical sloppy posture. Both barefoot measurements. Which are pretty close the national average for my age group and ethnicity. When I lived in Panama I was tall; lots of tall. The crowd on the street came up to my shoulders or maaaybe chin. But I haven’t been tall before or since. I’m still skinny, so from a distance I look tall. Closer up the effect disappears. Around here I see a lot of 20-something guys and a lot of 70-something guys and not a lot in between. Amongst the 20s I’m much smaller than average. Amongst the 70s I’m darn tall. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/44 "2016-02-15T01:00:49Z")
I’m a 5’8" tall woman and some people consider me tall, others not so much. Seems to me that a lot of women I know are 5.5’ and under. I have very few female friends who are taller than me (maybe 1 or 2) My brother is 5’8" as well and I think he is kind of short for a man. Or just average. My dad is 6’ and he would say he’s tall. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/45 "2016-02-15T01:49:06Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I am pretty sure this was the gist of the story … I doubt most people know that Minnesota has a strong Scandanavian immigrant history or that Scandanavians are 2-3" taller than Americans on average. Even if it is genetic, you’d assume the genes would get diluted over the generations of breeding with us lesser non-Swedes. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/46 "2016-02-15T02:14:20Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I always expected you stood out on a city street down there, but you stand out even more than I thought! 🙂 Indeed. And very occasionally I’ll run into a Thai who is just as tall as I am, which is always disconcerting. Former Finance Minister [Korn Chatikavanij](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korn_Chatikavanij) is something like 6’4"! I understand he has some Dutch ancestry, and that may have something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/47 "2016-02-15T02:38:17Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I doubt most people know that Minnesota has a strong Scandanavian immigrant history or that Scandanavians are 2-3" taller than Americans on average. Really? That’s a common stereotype. For US non-Hispanic whites. average height is 5’ 10" for men, 5’ 5" for women. I think it’s about the same for blacks. I’ve not seen what the Std. Dev. is, but being a sciency guy, I’d go with at least 1 standard deviation above the average to be tall. I’m 6’ 2", and have always been considered tall. It was even more common growing up, as I hit my growth spurt early-- I was 6 ft tall my first year in HS. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/48 "2016-02-15T03:04:02Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I doubt most people know that Minnesota has a strong Scandanavian immigrant history or that Scandanavians are 2-3" taller than Americans on average. No I’m pretty sure they do. Or do you mean non-Americans? The writer of the post assumes so too. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/49 "2016-02-15T04:01:06Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > [Cumulative Percent Distribution of Population, by Height and Sex statistics - USA Census numbers](http://www.allcountries.org/uscensus/230_cumulative_percent_distribution_of_population_by.html) > > It is subjective. I’m 6’1" or so but I don’t really consider myself ‘tall’ even though I’m taller than 90% of males. > > If I had to guess, I’d say 6’3" for a male and about 5’10" for a female is the cutoff for tall. My cousin is 5’5" and is the tallest woman on that side of the family. Im just over 5’4" and I am tall for women in my family. Then again they kind of rounded up my Grandfather’s height for joining the Airforce in 1942. My ex-husband and his family are tall. My MIL is 5’11, and my ex was 6’2 with very bad posture and spinal issues. My son at age 12 is no where near his adolescent growth stage, and is starting to be shorter than some of the girls, but he is maybe an inch shorter than I. Can anyone help me find kids pants in a 24 waist, 28 inseam? Tall varies. But over 5’10 for a woman and 6 ft for a man is tall. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/50 "2016-02-15T07:21:39Z")
I’m anywhere between 6’1" and 6’3", and I consider any man taller than me or any woman almost as tall as me to be tall (so maybe 5’10"-ish?). ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/51 "2016-02-15T15:59:30Z")
I’ve historically measured at 6’3" - may have shrunk somewhat since age 50. All my life I have been described as tall. And anytime I’ve been in a height-related situation (lining up in school or for pictures, measured for garments, playing b-ball) I’ve been on the taller end of the spectrum. One notable exception was when I used to play pickup ball in college, and I was often the shortest (and by far worst) member in some decent games. I let shorter folk stand in front of me, and I realize how much I appreciate that I can generally see about me in a crowd, and would HATE staring into everyone else’s backs. Someone who is significantly taller than me, I think of as REALLY tall. I’m still able to get most of my clothes/footwear off the rack. But if you go beyond a 36" inseam or sixe 12 shoe, your options decrease significantly. For women, I don’t think they are tall until they are 6’ or taller. One of my daughters most folk consider tall. She’s 5’10 or 11", and wears REALLy tall heels - but she’s still no taller than me, so I don’t really think of her as tall. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_from\_CB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/278dde/32.png) [@Alex\_from\_CB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_from_CB)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/52 "2016-02-15T23:18:06Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Yeah, here in Sweden I am 6’2" and I consider myself above average, but not tall. In a gathering I can look above most people but you have quite a few weirdly tall people that just tower over everyone. I work in a company of 50-60 people. It is pretty mixed, so we have about 25-30 men. Two of those are around two metres tall. I see those as the tall ones, but a person fairly shorter than me might see me as tall. I’m 6’ 3/4" exactly and never felt tall since friends I grew up with were bigger and/or taller than me. I’d say over 6’ is tall. When in a crowd I’m taller than a higher percentage of people. I’d say 5’ 8" is tall for a woman. I was in Stockholm last summer and was stunned at the heights. Saw women walking to work at 6’ or 6’ 2". Saw many men at 6’6" +. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/53 "2016-02-15T23:46:03Z")
I am somewhere between 6’1" and 6’2" depending on the time of day and I think of myself as moderately tall especially because I live in the Boston area that has a lot of shorter ethnic groups. I am always briefly surprised when I go back to Louisiana or Texas because Southern blacks and whites, especially the younger ones, tend to be tall and large and the sudden change in perspective throws me off for a little while. It is the same thing when I visit the Midwest. I feel like a giant at work because it is dominated by ethnic Portuguese that tend to be on the short side. I think of anything over 6 feet as somewhat tall for men and 5’9" to be tall for women. However, inches really count even more than they do for people in the average range. I was on a project a few months ago with a former athlete, an immigrant Swede and another tall consultant from Indiana and I was the shortest one. That was oddly disturbing because it hardly ever happens. The difference wasn’t that huge. The tallest one is 6’4" but people constantly commented on it when we walked around. We also have a new hire at work that is at least 6’8" if I had to guess by eyeballing it. I haven’t asked him about his height directly because I am in a leadership position and that would be rude to focus on it but everyone else certainly notices immediately and most of them can’t keep themselves from commenting on it. That is what I call truly tall. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/54 "2016-02-16T05:18:47Z")
Nornally, at 5’8" and female, I’m only on the taller side of average, but I’m currently in Indonesia, so have temporarily become huge 😉 It is giving me an insight into the trials of actual tall people though, when you go into a clothes shop and they stare and you and go “Uhh, maybe this?” And hold up something roughly the shape of a sack. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979/55 "2016-02-16T22:21:42Z")
I’m 59 and 5’10" (female) and have been since I was 12. Back in the late 60s-early 70s, that made me taller than most of the males I knew, let alone females. So I’ve always felt tall. My family on both sides were/are tall people. Mom was 5’9" and dad was 6’4", grandparents only slightly under that. Northern Germanic stock - big heads, big hands, big feet and long bones. From my vantage point, a woman needs to be 5’9" to be tall and a man needs to be 6’3" or over. I might feel differently about that if my line of slight was a little lower. lol [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-tall-constitutes-tall/745979.md?page=2)