Girl Dog Names That Start With M

Megan was one of the first trendy names to spawn lots of spelling variations: This is one of the most tenacious and confusing.

In many Slavic and other European countries, Milan is purely a boys’ name, but in the US, it's also popular for girls – no doubt inspired by the fashionable Italian city. It entered the Top 1000 for boys in 2013, while for girls it has been in the Top 1000 since 2009.

Presidential name that makes a fresh substitute for MacKenzie or McKenna. Possible spelling variations include MacKinley, MacKinlee, Makinleigh ad almost infinitum. McKinley is one of the Scottish names for girls that can work equally well for boys.

Variation of Michaela often used in Scandinavian countries. Mikaela is a Top 20 name in Puerto Rico.

This old-time fairy tale name is rarely heard in the modern English-speaking world, but it's so, well, mellifluous, that it would make a lovely choice for a twenty-first century girl--a romanticized tribute to an Aunt Melissa or Melanie.

Marcy is about as hip as bobby sox and saddle shoes – which is to say, it's probably due a revival in the not-too-distant future! It was a typical Peanuts character name, which peaked in the seventies, but is starting to attract attention again across the pond, where soundalikes like Macy, Marnie, Maisy, Darcy and Lacey are already popular.

In Greek myth, Medusa was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, with live venomous snakes in place of hair and the ability to turn people to stone with just a glance. In later myths, Medusa was originally a beautiful maiden, who was transformed into a monster by the jealous Athena.

This makes Milan sound like less of a place, more of a name.

The sort of oh-so-French name that's falling out of favor now.

Deriving from the same East Asian root as Malaysia and Malay, Malaya is a name that recalls the more popular Maya and the name of 2014 Nobel Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai. It first appeared in the US Top 1000 in 2006.

Marietta would make for a classy and uncommon long form for cool nickname Etta.

Intriguing derivation, though people will assume it's a simplified form of Maura.

Mavi is a gender-neutral Turkish name with a colorful meaning and a trendy feel, that is also the name of a jeans company, and a Spanish short form of the double name, Maria Victoria. This is one we expect to hear more of as an alternative to Maeve.

Interesting multi-cultural option.

Used especially in Latin America, this would make a funky spin on Maria.

A combination of vintage Mae with popular suffix -lynn, Maelyn feels reminiscent of glamorous Marilyn and contemporary Raelynn. In use since at least the 80s, Maelyn practically doubled in popularity 2019 after singer Maelyn Jarmon won that year's season of The Voice. Given to around 180 babies in 2023, when you combine this with the 215 girls with the alternative -lynn spelling the same year, that makes for nearly 400 Maelyns.

An unusual, energetic surname choice that would make a good Madison alternative. Madigan was a typical police detective series of the 1970s, starring Richard Widmark.

A sleek, smooth, understated name off the grid in the US but among the Top 100 girl names in Germany. In the US, it is a unisex name, while in Germany and the Netherlands, it is predominantly feminine.

Mio is a lovely Japanese name for girls that has migrated beyond its native country. One Berry reports several young girls named Mio in Australia, and the name has potential in the rest of the English-speaking world for parents who want to move beyond Mia and Maya.

An Asian name not widely known in the West.