Boy names that start with M
Michael was the number-one boy name in the United States from 1954 to 1998, and today Mateo outranks it — that swap is the story of the letter in miniature. M is one of the deepest letters there is, running from Roman Marcus to Zulu Mandla, and thirty-four of its best are below.
Most popular M names right now
Ranks are current U.S. Social Security positions. Two of the eight are the same name spelled two ways.
- #8Mateomah-TEH-ohSpanish
Gift of God. The Spanish Matthew, and now a U.S. top-ten name in its own right.
- #21MichaelMY-kulHebrew
Who is like God — a question, not a statement. The number-one U.S. boy name every year from 1954 to 1998.
- #32MatthewMATH-yooHebrew
Gift of Yahweh. The tax collector turned apostle who opens the New Testament.
- #39MasonMAY-sunEnglish
Stoneworker, stonecutter. A trade surname that spent the 2010s near the top of the list.
- #44MilesMYLZEnglish
Traditionally glossed as soldier, though the older Milo is of uncertain origin. Miles Davis owns the sound.
- #49MaverickMAV-rikEnglish
Independent-minded — literally an unbranded calf, after the Texas rancher who declined to brand his.
- #90MicahMY-kuhHebrew
Who is like Yahweh. A minor prophet with one of the Bible's most quoted lines about justice and mercy.
- #100MylesMYLZIrish
Identical in sound to Miles, separate in descent: the Irish Myles is of uncertain origin and probably owes nothing to Latin miles.
Classic M names
Rome supplied most of these. Mars alone accounts for Marcus, Marco, Martin and their cousins, which is why the letter can feel like a barracks roll-call.
- MartinMAR-tinLatin
Of Mars; warlike. Martin of Tours cut his cloak in half for a beggar; Martin Luther King Jr. carried the name into the twentieth century.
- MarcusMAR-kusLatin
Of Mars. The Roman praenomen behind Mark, Marco and Marcel, with Marcus Aurelius as the model bearer.
- MagnusMAG-nusLatin
Great. A long run of Norwegian kings answered to it, as did the earl-saint of Orkney.
- MalcolmMAL-kumScottish
Devotee of St Columba. Four kings of Scotland, and Malcolm X.
- MauriceMOR-issLatin
Moorish; dark-skinned. A Roman soldier-saint's name, worn smooth by centuries of French and English use.
- MaxMAKSLatin
Greatest, from Latin maximus. Short for Maximilian or Maxwell, and long since a name on its own.
- Manuelma-NWELSpanish
God is with us. The Spanish and Portuguese short form of Emmanuel.
- MarcoMAR-koItalian
Of Mars, by way of the Roman Marcus. One Venetian traveller made it famous everywhere.
- MiloMY-lohGermanic
Uncertain; one derivation is gracious, dear. A medieval name that reads entirely modern.
- MosesMOH-zizHebrew
Drawn out of the water — or, on the competing Egyptian reading, simply "child of".
Unique M names
The rarer end of M is where the letter earns its range: a Sanskrit sun, a Zulu abstraction, a Welsh county and a Swahili traveller.
- MihirMIH-heerSanskrit
The sun. From the same Indo-Iranian root that gives Persian its word for both sunlight and affection.
- MandlaMAHND-lahZulu
Strength; power. Amandla, the rallying cry of South African resistance, is the same word in the plural.
- MakotoMAH-koh-tohJapanese
Sincerity, truth, the genuine article — an ordinary Japanese word pressed into service as a name.
- MeirionMAY-ree-onWelsh
No vocabulary meaning at all: it is the man behind Meirionnydd, and the county behind the man.
- Mehrdadmehr-DAHDPersian
Given by Mithra, the god who guards a promise. The Persian original behind Greek Mithridates.
- Markelmar-KELBasque
Little Mars — the Basque form of Marcellus. Common in the Basque Country, rare everywhere else.
- Msafirim-sah-FEE-reeSwahili
Traveller, voyager. Swahili takes the everyday word for a passenger and hands it to a child.
- MaciejMAH-cheyPolish
Gift of Yahweh. The Polish Matthias, with a soft Slavic finish the English forms lack.
- Makanamah-KAH-nahHawaiian
A gift; a present, a reward.
- MertMEHRTTurkish
Manly in the old sense: upright, honest, straight with people.
M names from around the world
Michael and Matthew travel further than almost any other pair of names. Here they are again, plus two that never needed translating.
- Mikhailmee-kha-EELRussian
Who is like God. Gorbachev, Baryshnikov and Bulgakov between them cover most of what Russia does with it.
- Miguelmee-GELSpanish & Portuguese
Who is like God? The Iberian Michael, borne by the author of Don Quixote.
- Matteomat-TEH-oItalian
Gift of God. Doubled t, stress on the middle syllable, and a warmer sound than Matthew.
- MikkoMEEK-kohFinnish
Who is like God? The everyday Finnish Michael, and about as unpretentious as names get.
- MustafaMOOS-tah-fahArabic
The chosen one; the one selected as pure. An epithet of the Prophet Muhammad, used as a name in its own right.
- MinhMINGVietnamese
Bright, clear, quick-minded — the character 明, the sun set beside the moon.