Girl Dog Names That Start With M

Not one but two Spice Girls are named Mel, which led to it briefly being more popular for girls than boys in the 90s and early 00s, but it has now fallen out of favor for both sexes.

Mio is a lovely Japanese <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">name for girls</a> that has migrated beyond its native country. One Berry reports several young girls named Mio in Australia, and the name has potential in the rest of the English-speaking world for parents who want to move beyond Mia and Maya.

This unusual unisex surname name is pretty evenly divided between the sexes these days than it was in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when it was almost entirely male.
 
Merritt was a female character in the 1980s flick Where the Boys Are, and Merritt Wever plays the endearingly awkward young Nurse Zoey on Nurse Jackie, for which she won an Emmy.

Merrit

Sweet, nicknamey name belonging to the tragic heroines of both La Bohème and Rent. Mimi might feel too slight for many parents to use on the birth certificate, but as a short form, it's one of the cutest of the <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/508/cute-baby-names-for-girls">cute baby names</a>.

Mimi

Rarely heard outside the Jewish community; another form is Minda.

Mindel

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.

 Another possible origin for Mirren is as a modern spelling of a mysterious group of names that all seem to derive from the sixth century Irish saint Mirin who emigrated to Scotland and now is the patron saint of both the Glasgow suburb of Paisley and the game of football. The Cornish Merryn, best known as the name of the seacoast town St. Merryn, is also related.

Mirren

Intriguing derivation, though people will assume it's a simplified form of Maura. 

Mora

Marilla is a names that's familiar via its resemblance to Mary and variations, but also distinctive: It hasn't been on the Top 1000 since the 1800s and was given to only 27 baby girls last year. 
 
Delicate and sweet, Marilla might be seen as a Latinate form of Maria or a short form of the flower name Amaryllis. Marilla Cuthbert was a character in L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables.
 Not heard much since the 1880s, Marilla could make a distinctive alternative to Marissa.

Marilla

Marty and Martie are old-fashioned gender-neutral nickname names, boyish nicknames not heard much since the middle of the last century. That could change, though, with the rise of vintage boyish nicknames for girls. They have a certain charm and may come back into style along with mother names such as Martha.

Marty

The meaning of this sweet Japanese name varies depending on the combination of kanji used, but the first element mi means "beautiful".

Miyuki

Max names were one of the hottest trends for boys in the mid-2010s, and are still very popular. The girl versions haven't seen so much love, unfortunately. (Or fortunately, if you love them and want them to stay rare!) Maxima got some attention in 2015 when Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan used it for their daughter, but few parents have copied them.
The Nissan Maxima is a car model.

Maxima

Miami -- or Florida, for that matter -- hasn't achieved the place-name stardom of southern sisters like Savannah and Georgia. Quincy Jones used it as his daughter KENYA's middle name.

Miami

A pretty name that may pose pronunciation problems for non-French speakers or those who've never encountered it, but it is worth the effort. Pronounced meer-AY (or closer to MEE-RAY in French), it comes from the Occitan word mirar meaning "to admire". 
 
Popular in France in the 20th century, it peaked in 1949 when it briefly entered the Top 20, however, it has been out of style in its native country since the 80s. In the US, it was given to just 13 girls in 2025, making it a rare choice.
 
International forms of the name include the Spanish Mireya and Mireia , the Italian Mirella, and the Albanian and Croatian Mirela.

Mireille

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.

Malu

Manon is an endearing French pet name for Marie or Marianne; it has the international yet straightforward feel that makes it a viable import. 
Manon of the Spring was a gorgeous French film, Manon Lescaut a 1731 novel by Abbe Prevost, set in France and Louisiana, that was controversial in its day. It formed the basis of operas by Puccini and Massenet, and several films and TV series.
 Manon is currently a Top 50 name in France and Belgium, and is also relatively common among Welsh speakers. British actors Damian Lewis, of Homeland and Helen McCrory have a daughter named Manon.

Manon

Meli

Robust and energetic with an even blend of spikiness and elegance, Mariska is a diminutive of Maria, notably used in Hungary and The Netherlands. Internationally, it was brought into the spotlight by Law & Order actress, Mariska Hargitay.
 The meaning of Maria (and therefore Mariska) is uncertain, but theories include "drop of the sea" (from Hebrew root mar and yam); "bitter" (from Hebrew marah); and "beloved" (from the Egyptian root mr), though "wished for child" and "mother" are sometimes suggested too.
 
Familiar in The Netherlands and South African, it is a rare choice in the US, where it was given to just 14 girls in a recent year. It did however have a slight surge in popularity between 2006 and 2010, following Hagitay's appearance on the popular TV drama, peaking in 2007 when it was given to 107 girls.
 
Also borne by Dutch singer, Mariska Veres, it is pronounced as MAW-ree-shkaw in Hungarian and ma-RIS-ka in Dutch, the latter being the more intuitive among English speakers too.

Mariska

Upbeat name that cheers you as soon as you hear it. One famous bearer is Maori feminist Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia. 
 As Finnish name, it is connected to the sea.

Meri

In geography, a meridian is a line drawn around the curve of the Earth between the North and South Poles. The term comes from Latin meridianus, meaning "pertaining to midday", and the association with midday has led to the word gaining an added figurative meaning of "pinnacle; culmination". As a name, Meridian is rare, but it has potential as a modern unisex nature/virtue choice. Author Alice Walker gave the name to the eponymous character in her novel Meridian.

Meridian

She'd better be. Merry is one of the classic <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/412/christmas-baby-names">names for Christmas babies</a>.