Here is the game we are playing:
We are going to pretend that we are naming a baby and that the name MUST start with a certain letter, and so we will need one name starting with that letter for a boy and one name starting with that letter for a girl, or else one name that would work for either, EVEN IF we don’t like any of the names that start with that letter enough to Actually In Real Life choose them. It is just a game where we place artificial restrictions on reality in order to create the kind of tension that makes games fun—like when you have to choose what foods you’d eat if you could only eat three foods for the rest of your life: the fun is in thinking it over AS IF it were a real forced decision, while KNOWING it is not. There is a baby! It MUST be given a name with a particular letter! That is the game.
After that basic concept, we can decide our own sub-rules, based on what makes the game fun and not stressful. Some examples:
• I’m not planning to play that the name has to fit with the names of my other children or with the surname, though this would be an option for anyone who would LIKE to play it that way; I think I will have more fun if I pretend it is a stand-alone baby and that the surname is not an issue, though I may change my mind as we go. (And if I narrow it down to a few options and can’t decide, I might use siblings/surname as a tie-breaker.)
• It is also fine to narrow it down to a few finalists without getting to The One Name.
• The boy name and girl name don’t have to work TOGETHER: we are only naming ONE baby, so you’d only use one or the other. But you MAY play that the names have to work together, if that’s more fun.
• It is fine to wave aside issues such as a friend who already used that name, a famous person with the name, etc., if that makes it more fun and less stressful to choose. This is just pretend, so you can pretend that those things aren’t issues if you want to. (Or you can let the issues stand as they are in real life, if THAT is more fun.)
• We can also all make our own decisions about whether the names have to be ones we think we’d ACTUALLY USE in that hypothetical scenario, or just our FAVORITE names starting with that letter, regardless of whether we think the names are practical; I am not sure which way I will play it, and I likely won’t be consistent.
• If you already have a child with a name starting with the letter we’re working on, you get to pick again from all the names that remain; you don’t have to choose your child’s name as your favorite just because it WAS your favorite: this is a FRESH baby, and you wouldn’t give it the same name as your existing child. (If you would normally prefer not to repeat an initial within a sibling group, you can just pretend that’s NOT a preference for the sake of the game.)
• You can do as much or as little explanation as you like in your comment: you can just list the names you chose, or you can explain your process/preferences/reasoning/runners-up, or whatever is most fun.
Today’s letter is M. I have FOUR favorite M girl names already: Margaret, Meredith, Millicent, and Minerva. I would have a terribly hard time choosing among them, I love them all so much. In fact, I am going with the “whatever is fun and not stressful” rule, and I am not going to narrow it down further with this one.
For boys, I don’t have any favorite M names, but I like Malachi, Malcolm, Merritt/Merit, Miles, Miller, Milo, Murphy. We had Milo in our top three finalist names for Henry, but I didn’t regret not using it, which I think has knocked it down a peg for me. Miller and Murphy are style outliers for us, if I’m playing the game as if that matters. I like the idea of Merritt/Merit, especially since it’s less common to use virtue names for boys, but I don’t know how I want to spell it. None of these are standing out as particular favorites. I guess if I’m choosing just for fun, I choose Miller and I choose not to care that it’s an outlier and a beer.
Now you! If you want to! Only if it’s fun and not stressful! Feel free to adjust the game-play to be fun and not stressful!
As much as I love Mabel and Margo and Melody, I’d have to go with Maya for a girl.
Max for a boy!
I too like a lot of M girl names. I like Maya, Millie, Maggie, and Meredith. But my very favorite girl name is Malia.
For a boy, I think I like Max the best. But I also like Miles.
For girls I have 2 that I would definitely use in real life, Mikaela and Milena. For boys I also have 2 as well Milo and Mathew. Milo, was my childhood imaginary friend so definitely a name that I’ve always liked.
My top picks are:
Girl – Mikaela
Boy – Milo
M is a letter I particularly enjoy. I love Margaret and Margot, Mary, Miriam, Mabel, ah, this is such a good letter. Magnolia! I tried to get Quentin on board with Magnolia (nickname Nola).
One of my all time favorite boy names is Matthew, which I’ve never even attempted to use because of its popularity, but in this imaginary game where such things don’t matter, oh I think it’s such a GOOD name. So solid. THERE IS NOTHING NOT TO LIKE ABOUT MATTHEW. I also love the name Malcolm and pushed hard for it for all three of my kids with no success. My final answers are Margot and Matthew. For Margot I lay claim to all available Margaret nicknames, including Daisy.
M: Matthew & Margot
N: Neil & Nadine (strong second place Naomi)
O: Oscar & Opal
P: Patrick & Paloma (close seconds are Peter & Pearl)
Q: Quinn (for either, because I already have a Quentin)
R: Robert & Ruth (special shout out to Ramona)
S: Sawyer & Sylvie
T: Toby & Tabitha
U: Uriel & Una
V: Vincent & Veronica
W: Walter & Winonah (honorable mention to Warren)
X: Xavier & Xia
Y: Yusef & Yolanda
Z: Zachary & Zelda (but upon reflection I think maybe Zinnia)
Mabel would 100% be our girl name if somehow we had a third (girl) child. I love it in full, I love Mae and it fits beautifully in our sibset. My second daughter was almost Margo/Margaux or Maggie, I’ve loved Magalie for years but couldn’t convince hubby, Magnolia, Martha, Meredith, Molly, Miranda, Maxine, Mallory, Maeve, Maren, Mimi – I’d use any of those in a heartbeat.
Boy names are harder. Hmmm…. Montgomery is great but feels like too much. Malcolm is taken in our larger family otherwise it would be a contender. I met a young boy named MacGregor and that was pretty cool. Magnus is gorgeous but no S-endings for us. Mitchell is pretty great but is a tongue-twister with the surname. Ooh I remember I like Marshall. Despite the Paw Patrol connotation? Or Meyer! Yes.
G: Mabel
B: Meyer
We’re looking for M names as we all start with M. Our first child is Mabel and I’m Maren. 😊
Those are lovely M names! My girls just told me our future cat will be Mabel (yay!) – they got it from Gravity Falls (have you seen that show, there’s a spunky little Mabel with a twin brother Digger.) Good luck with your M name search! Hopefully lots of ideas on this thread.
So truth: if I had a girl baby, I would 100% name her Maggie. My middle name is Margaret; I had great-grandmas named Margaret and Meg, and I just…love the name Maggie. In fact, I even know her middle name: Beatrice. Maggie Beatrice. Maggie Bea. I’m not having children, but not using this name is a great regret of my life.
I can’t muster any enthusiasm for boy names in M, because all my excitement goes to Maggie.
Maren and Magnus are my choices. Loved them both for years !!❤️💙
TL:DR Miriam, Micah
I really like M letters, and I had an M name on my lists for both of my boys (and on the girl lists if they had been girls).
I really like Maeve, Margot, Maren, and Meredith, but my favorite girl M name (and a name that would have really been on our lists seriously if we had been having a girl) is Miriam.
For boys, I actually really love the name Malcolm. In the years since our sons have been born I have met a couple of disagreeable Malcolms, which makes the name less great for me. I do like Micah, Martin, and Matthew.
I think now if I was looking down at the baby it would be Miriam or Micah.
M is an easy one for me! Magnolia for a girl, because in this game it doesn’t matter that my husband doesn’t like it. Miles for a boy, which is a name that I’m sad that we never got to use.
M: Magnolia and Miles
N: Naomi and Nathaniel
O: Ophelia and Owen
P: Pippa and Peter
Q: Quinn and Quill
R: Rosalie and Roan
S: Susanna and Simon
T: Tessa and Thaddeus
U: Umbria and Urban
V: Vera and Valerian
W: Wren and West
X: Xymeria and Xavier
Y: Ysabel and Yarrow
Z: Zelie and Zebulon
Another letter with lots of good options!
I’m going with Mirah and Matteo.
Aside from being names that I love, I like that these two both represent the different sides of my family’s ethnic background (Ashkenazi Jewish and Italian).
AFAB runners up: Maya, Maytal, Maren, Matilda, Margo, Mallory
AMAB runners up: Micah, Max, Matan, Milo, Miles
M: Mirah, Matteo
N: Nadia, Nathaniel
O: Ocean
P: Patrick, Pearl
Q: Quill, Quiara
R: Ramona, Raphael, River
S: Simone, Sylvan, Sage
T: Talia, Theodore
U: Uma, Uriah
V: Vanessa, Vaughn
W: Wednesday, Wade
X: Xiomara, Xavier
Y: Yvonne, Yonatan, Yael
Z: Zora, Zayn
M is easy, two names that I never got to use in real life that I still feel sad about (and remain my ‘if we had another baby’ names…
Mary Clare (I would nn her May, Maisie and Maidie and see what stuck because I love them all)
Martin – . It has secret meaning for me because of St Martin who is famous for dividing his cloak in half to share with a beggar. St Martin shares a strained glass window with a woman who has my real name (not Maree) in our little country church and I have always loved them.
Micah for a boy. I don’t even need to think about it. For a girl, I like a lot variants of Mary because of the sea meanings. Mariah, Maris, Miriam? Probably Mariah.
I have two M names on my list of girl names – Marin & Morgan. No M boy names, I think girl names are MUCH more fun than boy names. I’d probably go with Morgan if I actually needed to name a child because I foresee potential confusion over the pronunciation of Marin.
It’s been really fun to see how many people have my name (Margaret/Maggie) on their lists! And my middle name starts with L, so I’m eager to see if that shows up on anyone’s lists in the next post!
Manon for a girl
Magnus for a boy
I’ve played this version in REAL life! LOL
My husband’s family has an M-name tradition going back 5 (now 6) generations for boys and 3 (now 4) for girls. When we got pregnant with our first, I agreed to CONSIDER an M-name. My thought process was – If I love a non-M name for this baby, then that shall be the name.
The girls list included Molly, Mae, Margaret, Marren and a Mary-____ double-name (Mary Claire? Mary Elise? etc). My favorite M name got stuck off the list quickly, but I love Miriam and it is on my “regrets” list.
For a boy, there was only 1 M name . Miles. 7 years later I still LOVE it! It makes me so happy to hear someone call his name. It’s not very popular here, so we still get comments about “Oh! I like his name” etc.
M: (f)Miriam – (m)Miles
N:(f)Naomi – (m)Nigel or Neil
O:(f)Olivia – (m)Orion
P:(f)Penelope(Poppy) – (m)Porter
PH:(f)Phoebe – (m)Phillip
Q:(f or m)Quimby
R:(f)Ruth – (m)Russell or Rhett
S:(f)Simone or Sierra – (m)Seth
T:(f)Tessa/Tess – (m)Tucker
U:(f)Ula – (m)Umberton
V:(f)Viola or Vivian – (m)Vaughn
W:(f)Wynn – (m)Webb or Whit
X:(f)Xanthe – (m)Xavier
Y:(f)Yara – (m)York
Z:(f)Zella – (m)Zeke
Maeve, second choice Margot. Boys I had trouble with initially. I was going to settle for Max or Michael but then I remembered my husband’s cousin has a son named Moss and I absolutely love it!!!
Oooh M for girls is hard for me: Marina, Mara, Margot, Margaret, Mina, Mila, Maggie, Maeve, Magnolia, Maisie, Mae, Mary … love them all
Marina and Malcolm, I think.
Magnus and Maeve!
Correction: Magnus and Melanie!
There are lots of great M names. For a girl, I like Molly but it seems a bit stale. I really like Maeve but it is becoming very common around here. I also like Meredith. However, I love the simplicity of Mary and find it refreshing on little ones today. I would go with Mary Frances and decide whether to call her Mary or Mary Fran.
For boys, I like Michael and Matthew but they are two common. Malcolm seems like a side choice. But I would go with Miles.
Matteo and Marina, or perhaps Maren :)
Magdalena & Michael!
I love ‘M’ names.
My favorite boy name is Miles, which my husband has sadly vetoed every time.
For a girl I like Miriam, Mirah, and some double-barrel Mary names, like Mary Anabel and Mary Celeste. Right now I might pick Miriam, with the nickname Miri.
Mary-Margaret for a girl; Maxwell for a boy. Love Max or Mac on a little boy!
My aunt is named Mary Margaret (not hyphenated). As an adult she just goes by Mary, but I like them together!
My great aunt is Mary Margaret, and she goes by Mary! She sadly just passed away earlier this week. Even though she went by Mary, my grandpa (her brother) always called her Mary Margaret (or Mar-Margaret when he was speaking quickly. I love that too!) Evidently Aunt Mary’s mom named her after her own mother, but said she never wanted her to be called that dreadful nickname, “Maggie”. So funny how tastes change! Aunt Mary now has a granddaughter named Mary Margaret, called Maggie.
This is the one I’ve been waiting for. I am still salty (21 years later) that I did not use Miller as my youngest’s name. It is my maiden name. At the time my husband had an extreme reaction saying no. And, our relationship was not quite as solid as it is now. NOW, I would name him Miller anyway. But then, I wasn’t really sure what would happen. So, even though I love many M boy names, I would choose Miller in a heartbeat.
For a girl… I love Maisey. But, I also like Millicent (nn Millie). When I was pregnant with boys #2 & #3 they were going to be Molly if they were girls and #4 would have been Madeline. But, now they seem a bit stale.
I think I’ll go with:
M: Millicent (nn Millie) & Miller
N: Nina & Noah (Nina is a family name)
O: Ophelia (nn Phee) & Oliver (nn Ollie)
P: Piper & Porter (runners up: Poppy & Payton)
Q: Quinn (either boy or girl)
R: Ruby & Rafe (runners up: Remy)
S: Seraphina (nn Phee) & Sawyer
T: Tallulah (nn Lulu) & Tyler (runner up: Talia)
U: Urla & Ulric
V: Vashti & Varden (runner up: Violet)
W: Willow & Winter (runners up: Wren & Willa)
X: Xiomara, Xavier
Y: Yara, Yates
Z: Zola, Zachary
This is a hard one…so many M names that I enjoy!
But, if I have to choose just two it’ll be Milo and Maisie
I am done having children but sometimes I’m still sad I don’t have a daughter named Mabel (my top girl name both times I was pregnant [with boys]). It’s a family name for me and I love the nicknames Mae and Mamie. Mabel is definitely my top choice here. I also love Marguerite, and Marigold is fun, too. For a male child, I don’t have as many M favorites but I do think Magnus (nicknamed Magnie) is a nice choice.
We would’ve used Mirabelle but it rhymes with last name. Tied for second are Melisande and Morgana.
They’re outliers for me, but I like Mason and Mercer for boys but wouldn’t use them in real life.
Magdalen and Malcolm. So nice!
M is a favorite letter! For girls I love Melody, Mercy, Marigold and Mallory (nn Molly).
For boys, we have a Maverick and used Michael as a middle name. I also like Malachi (the Mal-a-k-eye pronunciation not Mala-key)
So final answer, Mallory and Maverick (I would totally choose again since it’s really a fun name)
Marenna and Merritt
Marenna & Merritt
Natalie & Nolan
Olwen & Oleander
Persephone & Phineas
Quinn & Quinlan
Reese & Ronan
Sela & Scott
Teagan & Tate
Ursuline & Uriah
Viridian & Vale
Waveny & Wells
Xanthia & Xavier
Yvaine & Yates
Zara & Zander
Oooh I’ve been thinking of this for days.
We have already a Mac, and Martin and Margaret as middles, so as much as I love those, I’m choosing others for the game.
Girl contenders: Martha, Maeve, May, Matilda, Marilla, Maureen-called-Moe
Boy contenders: Malachy, Matthew, Malcolm, Miles, Morgan, Murphy
Final: Matilda (Maisie) and Malcolm
Oh! Marilla! I’d forgotten that one. I love it.
I love M names for girls! So hard to choose! My favorites are Mabel- nn Mae or Mae-bee (Maebe?), Matilda- nn Tilly, Margaret- nn Greta, and Marigold- nn Goldie. I think that if I had to pick right now, I would go with Mabel..but it would be quite the battle between Mabel and Matilda!
For me, I can’t get as excited about M names for boys. I’m pretty sure that I would go with Miles.
Mabel and Miles!
So many good M names! I tried hard to get my husband to love Marion as much as I do when we were naming our daughter but alas. I also love Margaret and Madeleine and Meredith. And Mila and Minka and Maya. But I also know for sure I would name another daughter after a friend I lost, whose last name is beautiful and starts with an M.
Boys are harder. A friend has a Mitchell, which I have come to adore but it has unappealing (to me) political connotations right now. I like Matthew but don’t love it. I like Miller and Miles.
Well, as this is a game I will choose my friend’s surname for a girl and completely ignore the possibility of an imaginary boy.
Girls: Maeve was top of my list for a few years but it faded due to a combination of it’s growing popularity (especially out of nowhere it felt like!) and discovering I don’t actually love it on a baby after an acquaintance used it. I have always loved but would not use Mona and Marina. I love Merry when written but the fact that it will most often be considered Mary ruins it for me. Interstellar made me fall in love with Murphy, I think that’s my choice!
Boys: This is much harder for me! I do really like Miles, I like Matty but not Matthew, I love Moe, but not the long version as much.
Final answer: Murphy for a girl and Milo for a boy
Girls would have to be between Margot and Maisie. I think I’d end up just going with Maisie.
Boys is much harder for me, I love the name Max. But its a exs name so I think that automatically crosses it off, so in that case my next favourite would probably be Miles.
Boy: Milan
Girl: Marissa
I always forget about Milan! Great name.
Matilda (second place: Margaret)
Malcolm (name of my actual baby, love it so much!)
There are so many great M names!
My favorites are Margot and Miles.
M: Margot/Miles
N: Natalie/Norris
O: Opal/Otis
P: Pearl/Pascal
Q: Quinn/Quanah
R: Rachel/Reece
S: Sadie/Samuel
T: Tally/Toby
U: Uma/Ulysses
V: Vanessa/Vance
W: Wilma/Walter
X: Xochitl/Xerxes
Y: Ysobel/York
Z: Zora/Zane
Recently I fell in love with Martha. I wish I could use it.
Milo or Miles for a boy.
In real life, my husband would probably reject them both.
Girl: hard to choose. Top picks: Margot, Marley, Matilda, Mila. Would honestly have to meet the baby first to decide. Former favorites: Madeleine, Marina, Marissa, Mara, Meredith, Michaela, Mischa.
Boy: Max. This was in close-running when we were choosing names for our younger son. I love it!
Maximilian & Mary.
Miles or Mae.
Didn’t even have to think too hard on this one!
Miranda for a girl
Morgan (all time fave) for a boy
Oh and Murphy! I was so excited to post a response I forgot to add my other favorite haha. I would name a boy Murphy in a heartbeat 😍
I’ve always loved Moira! For a boy, I’d probably do Maxwell, a family name.
I’m surprised by how many M names I like.
For a girl, I think Mabel is my favorite. Also loving Margo, Magnolia, Matilda, Millie (maybe as a nickname for Amelia, though – I’m not quite sure I’m daring enough to go for Millicent.)
For a boy, I like Milo, with Max (maybe Maxwell?) as a runner up.
For a unisex name, I like Merritt.
Oh, M is the best and hardest letter. Matthias for a boy, no doubt, with runners-up Malcolm or Malachi called both Mal and Mac. I adore all the Mary names and used one: Mary, Marie, Marian, Marianne, Mariel, Mary-Iris, Mary-Elise. Heart a-flutter. If two Marian names would not be too many, then I’d choose Mariel. But since they probably are too much together….Margaret is a longtime favorite but I’m hearing it everywhere, which is lovely and sufficient for me. Meredith is lovely…Mae. Maeve also amazing. No, Mae. Simplicity is not a fault, and it is an honor name.
M: Mae and Matthias
N: Nicola or Nicholas
O: Octavia and Oliver
P: Paulina or Paul
Q: Quartz and Quentin
R: Rosa and Raphael
S: Sylvie and Samuel
T: Theodora and Timothy
U: Una and Ulysses
V: Vera and Valerian
W: Willa and Walter
X: Xenia and Xavier
Y: Yvaine and Yves
Z: Zinnia and Zachary
Maryn was on my list during both my pregnancies. My grandma was Mary and my name ends in -yn so that’s why I like it spelled Maryn. I’ve also always liked the names Mary Kate, Marnie, and Melia.
For a boy, Michael is a family name (my husband, dad and father in law are all Michael!) so it would be confusing but also kinda cool. I’d call him Mikey so he has his own name to go by. I also like Maverick but I’m not sure I’m brave enough to use it
Call me weird, but I like Michael. I chose it for my elder child’s middle name. For boys, I also like Miles, Meriadoc, and Matteo (though I wouldn’t actually use either of the last two)
For girls, Melody and Meredith.
For a girl, I love Magdalena, but I would hesitate to use it in real life because my name is Margaret and Maggie is a common nickname for both. Which, I admit, is kind of silly when I don’t even use Maggie and there are other nicknames for Magdalena I could use instead. If I did use Magdalena, though, Maggie IS the nickname I like best. *sigh* Plus, as a Margaret-called-Meg who gets annoyed when I’m mistaken as a Megan, I can imagine a Magdalena-called-Maggie being mistaken for a Margaret, adding to the confusion.
So, yeah, best to avoid the whole thing and go with Madeleine instead!
For a boy, I guess Malcolm?
I have a Malcolm and I still love it.
For boys, I love Matteo, but my husband vetoed it. I like Marlowe a too.
For girls, I love Marianne, Merritt, Mills, Matilda and Murphy. Actually, Murphy is lovely for a boy too. Marigold and Musette for middle names.
This one is hard. I’ll go with Murphy and Marianne.
Marshall and Melina
I’m spoiled for choice with this letter! For a girl, I’ve really come around to Margaret (possibly due to Swistle’s love of the name!). It’s a timeless classic with a lot of fun nickname options; my favorites are Maggie or Meg, although I might like the full name Margaret best! And I would sneak in the surprising middle name Blythe, because to me Margaret Blythe sounds so GOOD. As runner-ups, I also like Margot and Miriam. I’m not a huge fan of the name Mary, but both my grandmothers are Mary and my own middle name is Marie, so I’m trying to like it more! :)
For boys, I’d probably go with Maximilian for St. Maximilian Kolbe, nn Max. I also really like Matthew, which is just a solid nice boy name. And I sort of love Mackenzie for a boy, nn Mac, but I’d never do it because it’s so much more popular as a girl’s name.
Final answers: Margaret and Maximilian.
Malcolm for a boy and Madeleine for a girl
I seriously considered both Miles and Malcolm when I was pregnant and am having trouble deciding! I looked back at my iPhone note that I made a few months ago when I was deep in the newborn craziness and needed something to keep my brain working at all hours of the night and I wrote Miles, but I think I’m going to switch to Malcolm!
When I was pregnant with this lovely little girl who was keeping me up all night, I kept coming across beautiful M names that I just didn’t feel comfortable using because they were too similar to my name (Mara). Margot, Marion, Maren, Maya… I love them but couldn’t do it. Again, I just looked back at my note and realized I wrote Mireille… hmm, maybe the i instead of a made it feel okay? Who knows, I was extremely sleep deprived! But guess what? I still am, so I’m just going to stick with it!
Malcolm and Mireille
I love so many “m” names, but for a girl, they are all on my middle names list! I have divided them into three lists. The names I’m sorry I can’t use as a first because they rhyme with mine (Marina, Mina/Mina, Malina/Melina), the names I love on other people’s children (Miriam, Maeve/Maeva, Mavis, Magdalena, Madeleine, Madelief, Maisie, Margot, Magnolia, Marigold, Mika, Mikaela with four syllables, Mila, Marilla, Mirabella, Meredith, Maelys, Miranda), and the names that I would consider moving to the first spot, many of which sound similar. They are Mariola with three syllables, Mara, Mira, Mariana, Miriana, Marcella, Marisela, Mariela, Mirela, Marinda, and Malia. I think I would need an actual baby or a partner to help me choose, but the winner might be Mariana or Malia to honor the two Marys and the Mary called Mali in my family.
I also have a lot of “m” names for boys that I love or would love to hear on other people’s children, including Matthias and Matthew and all of the various forms of those two names in other languages as well as Martin, Miles, Milo, McCoy, Malone, Marius, Marcus, Montgomery (nicknamed Monty), Marvin, Morien, Marinus, Maximus, Maximilian, Macsen, Maxfield, and Masefield. When I was choosing my son’s name, I considered Malcolm as a way to get to the nicknames Mac and Cole and ended up rejecting it because it started with “mal,” which means “bad” in Spanish. I rejected Malachi for the same reason, but those were probably silly decisions because I love both names. I also love Mordecai, but that one really does sound a little bit too much like death, so I don’t regret not using that one. I couldn’t use either Malachi or Mordecai now IRL because they end with the same sound as my son’s name. I also regret not being able to fit Murray in as a middle, but I wouldn’t use it as a first. So if I had a boy that needed an “m” name, I would either go back to Malcolm or choose McLean (nicknamed Mac or Lane) after the wildlife sanctuary where I spent a lot of time in my childhood.
So many amazing M names, especially for girls. I don’t usually love alliteration and with a last name starting with M, you’d think I’d be less enthusiastic on some of these, but it’s not stopping me in pretend land!
Girl names I’d all seriously consider: Macy, Mallory, Marcela, Maren, Marjorie, Matilda, Maureen (called Mo), Meredith, Merida, Meryl, Mia, Michelina (called Mickey), Michelle, Midge (maybe Miriam called Midge…but prefer Midge), Mila, Mina, Minty, Molly, Mona, Monica, and Morgan. Top faves are probably Mallory and Monica, but I don’t know if I could ever separate the Monica from Friends reference. Mallory is my easy winner.
Boy names are less for me, but a few I like, including Mac, Marshall, Max, Meyer, Miles, Monroe, Moss, and Murphy. I think my favorite is Marshall!
M – (f) Mallory, (m) Marshall
N – (f) Nadine, (m) Neil
O – (f) Odette, (m) Oliver
P – (f) Pia, (m) Parson
Q – (f) Quincy, (m) Quaid
R – (f) Ramona, (m) Roger
S – (f) Susanna, (m) Sullivan
T – (f) Thora, (m) Tatum
U – (f) Uma, (m) Umber
V – (f) Virginia, (m) Vaughn
W – (f) Whitney, (m) Wade
X – (f) Xaida, (m) Xander
Y – (f) Yardley, (m) York
Z – (f) Zoe, (m) Zachary
In naming our daughter recently, I found I am quite fond of female-M-names. Minnie, Meredith, Marigold, Millie, Marin, Mabel, Margaret, Maeve, Magdalene, Marielle…….I could go on and on. We ended up using my very favorite M girl name, Matilda. So Matilda. I’d use Matilda.
I don’t have many for boys. Anything I could get the nickname Mack from was my favorite, i.e MacMillan, McAllister, etc. I’d probably go for MacMillan.
My actual children’s names are Miranda and Matthew! I still love Miranda especially so, so much: marvelous thing.
If I were picking fresh M names and not those, I’d choose Margaret nn Meg and Michael, though in real life I couldn’t choose Michael because that’s my nephew’s name.
I love Miranda too. When my son was born, he would have been Maia if he’d been a girl; a couple years later when we were thinking about maybe having a second child, I had switched to Miranda as my top girl name. Love the meaning and that Shakespeare coined it.
I always loved Millie, after my great grandmother but a cousin used it years ago, and now I know many a Millie under 6. Mabel has been a favorite since my middle school performance of Pirates of Penzance! I would absolutely use Mabel for my next Child if a girl. I think it’s equal parts strong and whimsical.
Malcolm is a name that has grown on me in recent years, and it’s currently on my “maybe for the next one” list, I would definitely use Mac as the nickname.
Mabel & Malcolm
Oooh this one is fun. M names are my jam and I would use them in real life if I could. My top choices for a girl are a tough choice between Marlowe, Maryse, and Mabel, which I love almost equally. But if actually forced to pick, I think Marlowe edges out the other two just BARELY.
M: Marlowe, Miles
N: Natasha, Nicholas (nn Nico)
O: Olivia, Owen
P: Perianne, Preston
Q: Quinn (boy OR girl!)
R: Raine, Raymond
S: Sophie, Samuel
T: Thea, Tobias
U: Una, Ulrich
V: Veronica, Vincent
W: Winter, Walter
X: Xanthe, Xander
Y: Yael, Yeats
Z: Zola, Zander
I’ve been playing this by imagining I’m renaming my existing kids (one girl, one boy). One is named Maya, a name I love so much for so many reasons it’s hard to imaging replacing. So I’m going to take baby steps away from Maya by choosing …
May or Micah
I already have a Margot, and man I love it.
But! Unlike with the N names, where I couldn’t possibly think of another name I like as much as my son’s, there are lots of M names I really love.
May, Meredith, Maeve I all love, but I think I would go with Mattea for a girl. For a boy, as always, it’s trickier. I think I’d go Max.
Mattea and Max.
After years of complaining about not having a formal name, if my name wasn’t Molly I’d like it for a little girl. So much spirit! I’m also pleasantly surprised to see so much love for Mallory.
Girl: Mary, Margaret, Maeve if it wasn’t so trendy around me
Boy: Martin if people would pronounce the T like a T and not swallow the i (Mar’in, Mart’n, Mard’n, Mardin instead of MAR-tin), Malcolm, Malachy
I can’t believe I forgot McAllister! A family name I’d love to use for a boy someday and actually my number one M name. Nicknamed Mac or Cal.
I think I would do Madeleine, nn Maddie, for a girl. I don’t like many boy names starting with M, but Miller and Mills are cute
I’m liking Mara and Merritt (I think that’s my preferred spelling or Miles.
If I had a baby girl tomorrow, I would be naming her Marguerite – it fits our naming style and the sort of “secret family names” trend I stumbled into with both of my daughters. They have names that are or are variations of names on my family tree (on my mom’s side, and I say secret only because it wasn’t deliberate or discussed, but now that it’s happened twice, I would absolutely have to continue the trend for a third baby girl). On my dad’s side, his very best aunt was Margaret, and his heritage is French, so Marguerite would be perfect. I also love Margaret itself, but that would be a harder sell to my spouse and has a slightly more staid feel than the names of my existing children.
But the glut of amazing M names – I also like Miriam, Millicent, Maeve, Marilla, Matilda, and Margo. I thought I didn’t have as many to choose from on the boy side, but I like Marcus, Maxwell, Miles, Milo, and Micah. I think, in the end, I would pick Milo.
For a girl, I’ve always liked Margo and Maude because of connections with film characters. I recently have liked the vintage Mauve that’s making a comeback. It’s romantic and soft but still a little clunky. Meg has seemed like to the coolest name to me, but it wouldn’t work with my hard G last name. I think I’d go with Margo, give her a playful nickname like Gogo (because I can’t help myself), and pair it with a sharp one-syllable middle name Joan.
For a boy name, I simple like Malcolm.
Girl: Margo
Boy: Malcom
I agree that there are so many good M names! For a boy I would definitely go with Malcolm. I love it, and my husband and I got engaged in Scotland so I thought it would be fun to use a Scottish name for a boy. I suggested it each pregnancy and my husband vetoed it every time, but maybe the 4th time would be the charm!
For a girl I’d go with Margaret. It works nicely with my sibling set, and I love nearly all of the nicknames (my favorites being Greta and Daisy). Runner up is Madeline, although I have a very strong preference for the LINE pronunciation over the LYNN pronunciation but the LYNN pronunciation seems to be more standard (at least in my region) and I think the idea of having to correct people so often would be a deal-breaker for me.
M names I used to really like: Madison, Madeline. I always wanted a Maddy. Now I feel like maybe there are enough already, which is a weird way to feel about a pretend name for a pretend baby. Still a favorite, though. <3
Boy: Martigan
Honorable mentions: Mordecai, Merrick
Girl: Morrigan
Honorable mentions: Mercy, Mabel, Marigold, Magnolia
Marshall for a boy as that is my sons name and I love it! And Morgan for a girl!
Margaret, because I love it. And Marvin for my uncle who died a few years ago
So much goodness!
Matteo and Margot
N: Noah and Nell
O: Odin and Orla
P: Penn and Phaedra
Q: Quin and Quilla
R: Roman and Romilly
S: Saxon and Saoirse
T: Teddy and Tess
U: Uriah and Ulla
V: Vincent (my surname) and Valentina
W: Wolfgang/Wolfie and Wren
X: Xandros and Xanthe
Y: Yael and Yael
X: Zara and Zeus
Y
For a boy, either Milo or Miles.
For a girl, I like how a lot of names that start with “mar”, like Margo and Marni, look and sound. But I don’t like the way they feel in my mouth. (I know, I’m weird). Oooh, I just remembered Maya after Maya Angelou. Yes, my choice is Maya.
Mirren
Marsden
Magnus & Mabel
So many good M girl names: Margaret, Maya, Miriam, Miranda, Maren/Marin, Matilda, Marian, Molly, Marianne (though not Mary Ann or Mary Anne, both of which feel soooo different than Marianne). I pick Margaret.
For boys, I love Miles and Martin (though not Marty), but I’d pick Marshall.