Girl Cat Names That Start With M

The original oddball celebrity baby name, via Frank Zappa's daughter Moon Unit, who claims she's always liked it.

Britney Spears' little sister Jamie Lynn was one of the first to put this nickname on the birth certificate. Cute for a child, but we recommend giving her the option of the full name for later use.

Mitzi is a spunky German nickname name that might appeal to parents drawn to the genre of lively vintage chorus girl names that proliferated in 1930's musicals. Lively entertainer Mitzi Gaynor--who was originally named Francesca Marlene de Czani von Gerber--made the name notable in mid-century America.

Mamie is back. Having finally shorn her Mamie Eisenhower bangs, this insouciant and adorable nickname name is perfect if you want a zestier way to honor a beloved aunt Mary. Meryl Streep's actress daughter, properly named Mary Willa, is called Mamie Gummer. You might think of Mamie as a sister of the stylish Maisie.

Neil Gaiman invented this name for a character in his comic book Sandman. It can now be seen on the TV show Lucifer.

Milou and her near-identical twin Malou are adorable names popular throughout Europe; they're contractions of Marie or Mary and Lou or Louise. The Malou spelling will probably be easier for English speakers to pronounce; Milou may be conflated with Milo.

Meera Bai, also spelled Mirabai, was a great female Hindu mystical poet whose works are popular throughout India. She was a fifteenth-sixteenth century Indian princess who devoted her life to writing paeans of devotion to the god Krishna.

The story of Meera was the basis of an eponymous Indian historical drama television series in 2009. It's also gotten a boost from HBO's Game of Thrones, in which Meera Reed is a tough, wise character who cares for the disabled seer Bran Stark once he flees Winterfell.

Margarita is an international form of Margaret that shares its meaning of "pearl", but also directly translates to "daisy" in Spanish and Greek. Despite being widely associated with the alcoholic beverage in English, it has a long history of use in Spanish, Greek and several Slavic languages — most notably being the name of the heroine of Mikhail Bulgakov's 1966 novel Master and Margarita. It currently ranks in the Top 30 girl names in Russia.

Madrigal might be a pretty and highly distinctive choice for a child of a musical family--or for the parent looking for a less conventional path to the nickname Maddie than Madeline or Madison . Definitely more striking than Cadence or even the increasingly popular Aria.

Popular name in Japan in its own right, but also as a nickname for Miyako or Makiko.

Sixties-style nickname which is also the name of a small biting insect, particularly prevalent in Scotland.

A sleek, smooth, understated name off the grid in the US but among the Top 100 girl names in Germany.

This old-time fairy tale name is rarely heard in the modern English-speaking world, but it's so, well, mellifluous, that it would make a lovely choice for a twenty-first century girl--a romanticized tribute to an Aunt Melissa or Melanie.

Adventurous parents are venturing deeper into the garden in search of fresh names, but remember that this also makes for an alcoholic brunch.

The popular cosmetics brand Maybelline inspires at least a few baby girls' names each year. Company founder Thomas Lyle Williams created the name as a portmanteau of Mabel and Vaseline after watching his sister Mabel mix up a quasi-eyeshadow out of coal dust and Vaseline.

It's a car brand, a planet, and the messenger of the gods -- but it's questionable whether it works as a little girl's name.

Minty isn't a fresh word name — it's an old-fashioned nickname for Araminta, the romantic smoosh name coined by playwright William Congreve in 1693.

An unusual, energetic surname choice that would make a good Madison alternative. Madigan was a typical police detective series of the 1970s, starring Richard Widmark.

An Asian name not widely known in the West.

The current wife of Donald Trump, Slovenian model Melania Knauss, brought this pretty version to the fore. Saint Melania was an heiress who freed thousands of enslaved people.