Scottish Names that Start With M

New Presidential name, if you're ready to move beyond Lincoln and Jefferson. At the turn of the last century, during the original McKinley's heyday, as a first name it almost reached the Top 100.

A common family name in Scotland, occasionally used as a first.

Macallister as a first name is attracting new attention as the name chosen by Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and venture capitalist Zack Bogue for their young son. Macallister is usually heard as a patronymic surname, meaning son of Alasdair or Alistair or any one of the spellings of the Scottish form of Alexander. Like all other names of this type, Macallister leads to the cute short form Mac.

Takes Monroe out of the Dead Presidents category and gives it new life.

Why does Mairi (rhymes with Harry) seem so much cooler than Mary? This Irish form of Mary was not used before the seventeenth century, as it was considered too sacred. The vocative case of the name, Mhairi (pronounced VAH-ree), is also used as a given name in Scotland.

An invention of the eighteenth-century romantic poet James Macpherson, in his epic cycle about Ossian, a legendary Celtic hero. In Poland, where it was popular at the start of the 20th century, the spelling is Malwina, and it's also had some use in other Eastern European countries.

Used quietly on boys in the US since the early 20th century, Mckenzie was abruptly overtaken by the Mackenzie spelling back in 1973 when actress Mackenzie Phillips introduced the name as a possibility for girls. While Mckenzie has never matched its sibling spelling in popularity, it nevertheless climbed the charts in its wake, peaking in 2000 at #133.

All names ending in ville are in nowheresville.

The 6th century Irish saint Mirin emigrated to Scotland and now is the patron saint of both the Glasgow suburb of Paisley and the game of football. Mirren is one modern spelling; the Cornish Merryn, best known as the name of the seacoast town St. Merryn, is also related. The name is usually used for girls.

An old-man name that sounds cute when used for a little girl, and is starting to seem cool again for boys too.

A classic Gaelic name, but too hoary to be a hit here.

The Mc and Mac surnames are asserting themselves as first names and this is among the most usable. MacArthur or McArthur makes a perfect honorific for an ancestral Arthur and leads directly to the nicknames Mac or Art

Simple ancient name of a Celtic goddess, but her friends might sound like they were asking for more.

Shows some promise via its connection to the growing interest in Ewan.

Traditionally pronounced "ming-iz" and thus the relationship to the jazzy Mingus, Menzies is an old Scottish surname related to the more common Manners.

Interesting possibility for the son or grandson of a Gregory.

The Mc and Mac surnames are asserting themselves as first names and this is one of the most popular. Though outside the U.S. Top 1000, it's among the fastest rising names for boys.