Dog Names That Start With M

Mirren is a lively and attractive Scottish name, popular in its native country but best known outside Scotland as the surname of the English actor Dame Helen Mirren. It is thought to be a Scottish derivative of the name Marion, from Mary.

Lilting and nearly unknown here, with the currently popular ella ending, makes a good Marissa alternative.

A fashionable name, thanks to prominent Japanese fashion designer Hanae Mori, but non-Japanese might hear it as MORRIE or MAURY.

Maud, lacy and mauve-tinted, was wildly popular a hundred years ago but has been rarely heard in the past fifty. Some stylish parents are starting to choose Maud again, especially as a middle. Maude is another spelling, associated with actress Maude Apatow.

Michael was the Number 1 boys' name for 50 years, so today parents are choosing or inventing modern variations to take its place.

Fun fact: Marion was the birth name of movie star John Wayne. Although commonly thought of as a female name today, it was actually more popular for boys until the late 19th century, and was given to roughly equal numbers of boys and girls throughout the 1970s-2000s.

Like Penn Jillette, you can have your own little brash babe.

Mads is a perennial favorite in Germany, the Nordic countries, and the Netherlands, where it is usually to be found in the Top 50. Just remember the D is not pronounced. Famous bearers include Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, the villain of the Bond film "Casino Royale".

This feminine form of Mael has the distinctive "aelle" ending found in Brittany. In the French spelling Maëlle, it is a Top 100 girls' name in France.

Euphonic hybrid of the sounds of Melissa and Laura. Melora Hardin is an actress who was featured on The Office.

Other kids might see a teasible connection to mortician or mortuary. Mortimer is an English family name used a few generations ago as an Anglicization of Moses; it was Walt Disney's original choice for the name of his mouse, until his wife talked him out of it.

Another feminine form of the old saint's name Mael. Spelled Maëlys, it is a very popular name in France today.

Cross-cultural winner.

Once a poetic Celtic name, that of the angel who governs the month of June, Muriel became the mom or grandma on TV sitcoms. She does have literary cred via Edinburgh-born author Muriel Spark, author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and also appears as a character in Anne of Green Gables. Muriel was a Top 200 name from 1912 to 1933.

Mauve is an offbeat color name whose soft and sentimental Victorian spirit is conveyed by the name. One of the newer color names like Blue, Gray and Plum that are increasingly being used as novel middle names.

Milo, Miles and even Myles are all well-known in the US, but the spelling Mylo is not widely used here though it ranks among the British Top 1000 names for boys. However you spell it, a friendly, jaunty name with authentic roots.

Seems unfamiliar, till you realize everyone will just hear it as Molly. In Wales, Mali is a Top 100 name.

Mariel Hemingway popularized this attractive and unusual variation of Mary. It's a fairly recent form, emerging in the twentieth century. Other variations include Marielle and Mariella, which is found in Italy.

A new favorite of the bohemian set, brought to light by actress Monet Mazur, daughter of the artist who designed the Rolling Stones' mouth logo.

Both Maire and Mare have begun making inroads with parents seeking novel yet authentic ways of honoring an ancestral Mary. The Finnish variation derives from the word mairea, meaning "sweet."