The variation in size among human penises is less than that for hands, fingers, or noses.

Penises can be as short as one-and-a-half inches or as long as eight inches.  However, the overall number of organs that fall at these extremes are exceedingly few.

The average length of a penis in its fully flaccid (relaxed, limp, normal) state is about four inches. The overwhelming majority of men fall within centimeters of that average.

Penis girth varies even less, ranging between one to one-and-a-half inches in diameter when flaccid.

But what about all those myths we hear about size?  Aren’t some men huge?
The truth is, a very tall man might have a longer penis than a short man, just as he will probably have bigger feet and hands. However, the difference in penis size between two such men will be far less than that of their other appendages.

A short man’s hand might be three full inches shorter than that of a tall man. He might wear a size eight shoe compared to a size thirteen. But his penis might only be a fraction of an inch shorter.

I have often seen penises on short men that were as big, or bigger, than those of most professional basketball players.

Of far more importance, given the concerns of most men, is the size of the erect penis. The erect penis averages about six inches in length (although most of my patients prefer the term “half a foot long”).

More importantly, the variation in the size of the erect penis is far less than that of the flaccid penis. If one man’s penis is five inches long when soft and another’s is three inches long, that two-inch size difference is likely to shrink to near zero when they become erect. It is even possible for the smaller penis to be bigger when erect.

When Erect, Most Penises Are the Same Size


The range in size for erect penises is simply much less than that of flaccid penises.  Nature made it possible for just about any man, regardless of his overall size, to mate with any woman. So when you hear men brag that their penises are a foot long, take it with a few grains of salt. They are either rare exceptions or liars.

The only technical way they’re not lying is if they’re adding to their measurements that portion of the penis that’s inside the body. (The penis actually begins several inches deep in the pelvic cavity).

When people ask what is the biggest penis I have ever seen, I tell them it did not belong to any of the oversized professional athletes I’ve examined, nor to any of the Hollywood “studs” who come through my office.

I tell them that it belonged to a short, slightly built, old man who was having prostate surgery. A pleasant, mild-mannered, pious man in his eighties, this patient was married to the same woman his entire adult life. Neither of them had the slightest idea of how relatively huge the penis was that had sired their nine children. I have never had so many helpers in the operating room! Half the nurses in the building wanted to assist me just to view this magnificent organ—not because they were attracted to it, but because medical professionals are compelled to look in awe at any huge or anomalous appendage.  And that’s what this was—huge, and unusual.

Average men are all about the same average size.  Chances are your penis, whatever it looks like, is not too small!