EU to US Shoe Size Conversion: Nike, Converse and Adidas Charts

EU sizes do not convert the same way at every brand. A men’s US 9 is EU 42.5 on Nike’s chart and on the Converse Chuck Taylor chart, but EU 42 2/3 on the Adidas chart, which counts EU sizes in thirds. UK numbers differ too, so always convert with the chart of the brand you are buying.

This page sets three makers’ charts side by side. Nike and Converse figures come from the size charts on Nike’s site. The Adidas figures come from the Adidas chart as printed by the retailers Marathon Sports and Budo Online.

Men’s EU to US conversion by brand

The three charts agree at some sizes and split at others. If a European listing gives only an EU size, find that number in the column for the brand of the shoe, then read across to the US size.

Why does Adidas use thirds?

The Adidas chart steps through EU sizes in thirds: 40, 40 2/3, 41 1/3, 42, and so on. Each US half size moves up one third of an EU size, so three US half sizes add up to one full EU size.

Nike and Converse use whole and half EU sizes instead. That is why an Adidas EU 41 1/3 and a Nike EU 41 are both a men’s US 8 on their own charts. Treat a size like 42 2/3 as a label on the Adidas scale, not a number to round.

Women’s EU to US conversion

Women’s sizes shift the picture again, because each brand converts men’s to women’s differently (see men’s to women’s shoe size).

A women’s 9 can be EU 40, 40.5 or 41 1/3 depending on the maker. For women’s sizes the brand’s own chart matters even more than for men’s.

How do UK sizes compare?

UK sizes are not one fixed step from US sizes either. The same three charts give three answers:

• Nike: a men’s US 9 is UK 8, one size lower.
• Converse Chuck Taylor: the chart lists UK sizes equal to US men’s sizes, so a men’s 9 is UK 9.
• Adidas: a men’s US 9 is UK 8.5, half a size lower.

A UK 8 Chuck Taylor and a UK 8 Nike are therefore different US sizes. For how Chucks fit beyond the numbers, see Converse sizing.

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What about kids’ EU sizes?

Kids’ sizes have their own EU numbers. On Nike’s kids’ chart, a 10C is EU 27, a 13C is EU 31 and a 1Y is EU 32. In big kid sizes, 3Y is EU 35, 5Y is EU 37.5 and 7Y is EU 40, the same EU 40 Nike gives a men’s 7.

The C and Y scales and where they restart are explained on the kids’ shoe size chart.

Reading an EU size on a listing

Check which brand’s scale the EU number belongs to before you convert it. Of these three charts, only Adidas uses an EU 41 1/3, while an EU 41.5 appears on the Converse Chuck Taylor chart but not on Nike’s men’s chart. If a listing shows both an EU and a US size, compare the pair against the brand’s chart: a mismatch is a reason to ask the seller which size the shoe really is, and one of the checks in how to spot fake sneakers.

The safest way to convert

Foot length is the one measure every chart shares. Measure your foot (see how to measure your feet), then find that length on the brand’s chart and read off the EU, UK or US size it lists. Nike’s chart gives a foot length for every size, and Nike recommends sizing up if you fall between two.

For the full Nike table by foot length and the reasons sizes vary between brands, start at the shoe size chart.