It’s not every day that you meet an 8 foot tall man or an 8 foot tall woman. Actually, you could live for over 100 years, and you probably still wouldn’t encounter an 8 feet tall person because 8’0 people do not have a common height at all.
Admittedly, you have a much greater chance of meeting a 7 foot tall man because there are some athletes who exceed this height. But as far as an 8 ft tall person goes, these individuals are extremely rare indeed.
See Also:
- Average height for women in America
- 9 foot tall man
- 10 foot tall man
- 11 foot tall man
- 12 foot tall man
So, how many 8 footers are in the world? At the time of writing, it’s estimated that there are currently seven 8 feet tall people in the world today, the tallest of which is Sultan Kösen, who stands at the colossal height of 8ft 2.8in. [1]
Not all of these 8ft men have been measured by Guinness World Records, so we don’t know if they’re genuine 8 footers. But we can certainly say that all of the people who claim to be 8 feet are very tall indeed.
The height of 8 feet works out to an incredible 243.84 centimeters or 96 inches, which is a practically unheard-of height for a human. In fact, it’s way more common to be 100 cm less than this height—that’s how staggeringly tall an 8ft man really is!
Of course, it’s possible that there could be some 8 foot men out there who simply haven’t come forward or don’t care for the publicity. Personally, I think that if an 8 feet tall man was really 8 foot tall, his photo would be all over the internet by now.
How tall is 8 feet compared to a person?
An 8 feet tall human is—can you believe it—a humongous 27 inches taller than the average man and a whopping 32 inches taller than the average woman.
If an 8 ft tall man was walking next to the average guy, it would look like a parent was taking their toddler for a walk!
Considering that most of us haven’t even seen a person who’s an entire foot shorter than 8 feet, it would be truly shocking and impressive to witness an 8 ft tall person in the flesh.
Now, within the 8-footer category, there are different heights.
So, on the one hand, we have the 8’11 man, Robert Wadlow, who was apparently still growing at the time of his death. Robert’s height has never been surpassed, and many doubt that it ever will be.
After that, we have the 8’7 man John F. Carroll, who suffered from a condition that caused his spine to curve.
Then we have Sultan Kösen at almost 8’3, of whom we have a lot more photos. It’s amazing to think that Sultan Kösen, who stands nearly 30 inches taller than the average man, would actually look pretty short next to Robert Wadlow if they had been alive at the same time!
What is it like to be an 8 foot tall man?
Many of us like the idea of being tall and some of us wish that we were a giant so that we could be superheroes and tower above everyone that we meet.
And while it might be interesting to be 8 feet tall for a day or two, there are some definite downsides that come with an 8 foot height.
First off, most of these 8 feet tall men don’t live that long, and they often need to use crutches when walking, indicating that their body is in some discomfort.
Moreover, going about basic daily activities as an 8ft tall man would be extremely challenging.
The simple things that many of us take for granted—sleeping, showering, driving—would present extreme difficulties and would almost certainly require a custom-designed living accommodation complete with extra large furnishings.
So, while we can definitely marvel at the impressive and record-breaking statures of these 8 foot tall people, we also need to remember that life for them can be pretty uncomfortable when they’re out of the limelight.
Is there an 8 foot tall woman?
There are currently no 8 feet tall women who are alive at the time of writing. But if we look at height history, then we can see that Zeng Jinlian had a verified height of over 8 feet. [2]
There are women who lived in the past that were said to be ever taller than this. But these claims, while they may have been true, were never verified.
Still, many people don’t believe that there has ever been an 8 foot woman. But it just goes to show that there have been some extremely tall women in the past, some of whom were more than 8 feet tall.
I don’t know if these records will be surpassed. But I think that with the popularity of social media, we’d quickly find out about a new 8 feet tall woman if she comes forward to get her height measured and verified.
Conclusion: What are the chances of being 8 feet tall?
The chances of being 8 feet tall—or a height remotely close to this—are slim to none.
This is because you don’t get to be an 8 footer without having some kind of medical condition or pituitary gland problem that accelerates your height growth.
Way less than 0.1% of the population is 8 feet tall, and the chances of a person being 8ft tall are likely 1 in a billion.
References
- Wikipedia. List of tallest people. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_people
- Tallest woman ever. (1982, February 13). Guinness World Records. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/tallest-woman