Dog Names That Start With M

Interesting multi-cultural option.

This is a Spanish variation of Maximilian that has begun to gain some popularity. It has a luxurious feel -- maybe it's the suggestion of "millions"? -- but this is one of those Spanish baby names that come with Anglicized nicknames that can make it work across cultures.

Minuet is delicate, dancey, and lacy, with a Masterpiece Theatre feel. Is Minuet a real name? Not really, though similar-sounding French names such as Minette and Manette are.

Is it pronounced MEE-ah or MY-ah? Only the bearer knows for sure, which is one of the central problems with this hybrid name.

This variation without the A is one of the patronymics – names that mean 'son of – that have been widely adopted for girls.

Brought into the spotlight by actor Mykelti Williamson, who was given it by his half-Blackfoot Indian grandfather

An archipelago near the center of the Mediterranean, the name derives from the Greek word for honey. Malta has been heard as a girl’s name in the past and was used as a character name by both Dickens and Murakami.

She'd better be. Merry is one of the classic names for Christmas babies.

Another culture's slant on Mark, sometimes associated with former president of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos and his shoe-collecting wife, Imelda.

Malu is a charming Hawaiian name chosen by ex-Talking Head David Byrne for his daughter. Malu might also be an abbreviated form of Malou, which is an abbreviated form of Mary Louise. Malu or Malou might be a retro-chic nickname for a child given the family names of Mary and/or Louise.

Men may be from Mars, but now that not one but two celebrities -- singer Erykah Badu and Workaholics star Blake Anderson -- have named their daughters Mars, we have to add it to the girls' roster. It fits right in with the other mythological names gaining in popularity today.

Mercer is one fashionable occupational name that can work as well for girls as boys, perhaps because of the soft c or the conventionally feminine nickname Mercy.

Mythological princess who killed her kids. Eternal no-no.

Although Maguire is such a prominent Irish surname —it ranks in the Top 40 in the Emerald Isle —this lively and cheerful family name has rarely been used as a first, unlike more familiar examples like Ryan, Riley and Reagan. The powerful and distinguished Maguire clan was known for their courage, leadership and resilience. The name's many notable associations include the unionizing Pennsylvania coal miners known as the Molly Maguires, actor Tobey Maguire and Dixie Chick Martie Maguire. Other spellings are McGuire and McGwire; two other handsome Irish surnames to consider are Malone and Magee.

More common -- when it was common -- with the Meyer spelling.

Because of shoe designer Manolo Blahnik, this has become a generic term for pricey stilettos, as in "I must have those Manolos."

A sweet and simple nickname for Marie that could serve to freshen up the outdated full form.

Mattis was most popular in Scandinavia in the 2000s and 2010s, and is now seeing success in Germany. In the US, it's most familiar as a surname.

There's only one. Okay, two.