Mildburg f Anglo-SaxonDerived from the Old English elements
milde "gentle" and
burg "fortress". Saint Mildburg or Milburga, the sister of Saint
Mildred, was a daughter of a 7th-century Mercian king. She was supposedly in possession of magical powers.
Mildgyð f Anglo-SaxonOld English name derived from the elements
milde "gentle" and
guð "battle". This was the name of a 7th-century saint, the sister of Saint Mildred.
Mildred f EnglishFrom the Old English name
Mildþryð meaning
"gentle strength", derived from the elements
milde "gentle" and
þryþ "strength". Saint Mildred was a 7th-century abbess, the daughter of the Kentish princess Saint Ermenburga. After the Norman Conquest this name became rare, but it was revived in the 19th century.
Milena f Serbian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Slovene, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Russian, ItalianFeminine form of
Milan. It began to be used in Italy in honour of Milena Vukotić (1847-1923), mother of Helen of Montenegro, the wife of the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III. In Italy it can also be considered a combination of
Maria and
Elena.
Miley f English (Modern)In the case of actress and singer Miley Cyrus (1992-), it is a shortened form of the nickname
Smiley, given to her by her father because she often smiled. Although it was not at all common before she brought it to public attention, there are some examples of its use before her time, most likely as a diminutive of
Miles.
Milko m BulgarianOriginally a diminutive of names containing the Slavic element
milŭ meaning
"gracious, dear".
Millard m EnglishFrom an occupational English surname meaning
"guardian of the mill" in Old English.
Millicent f EnglishFrom the Gothic name *
Amalaswinþa, composed of the elements
amals "unceasing, vigorous, brave" and
swinþs "strong". Amalaswintha was a 6th-century queen of the Ostrogoths. The Normans introduced this name to England in the form
Melisent or
Melisende. Melisende was a 12th-century queen of Jerusalem, the daughter of Baldwin II.
Milo m English, GermanicOld German form of
Miles, as well as the Latinized form. This form was revived as an English name in the 19th century.
Miloje m SerbianFrom the Slavic element
milŭ meaning
"gracious, dear", originally a diminutive of names beginning with that element.
Miloš m Czech, Slovak, Serbian, Slovene, Croatian, MacedonianOriginally a diminutive of names beginning with the Slavic element
milŭ meaning
"gracious, dear". This was the name of a 14th-century Serbian hero who apparently killed the Ottoman sultan Murad I at the Battle of Kosovo.
Milou f DutchShort form of
Marie-Louise. This is the name of a (male) dog in the French-language Belgian comic series
The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé, first appearing in 1929. He is named
Snowy in the English version and
Bobbie in the Dutch version.
Miltiades m Ancient GreekDerived from Greek
μίλτος (miltos) meaning "red earth" and the patronymic suffix
ἴδης (ides). This was the name of the general who led the Greek forces to victory against the Persians in the Battle of Marathon.
Milton m English, Spanish (Latin American)From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning
"mill town" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname was John Milton (1608-1674), the poet who wrote
Paradise Lost.
Miluše f CzechOriginally a diminutive of names beginning with the Slavic element
milŭ meaning
"gracious, dear".
Milvi f EstonianCoined by Estonian writer Mats Tõnisson in 1914, of uncertain meaning.
Mina 1 f English, DutchShort form of
Wilhelmina and other names ending in
mina. This was the name of a character in the novel
Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker.
Minato m & f Japanese (Rare)From Japanese
港 (minato) meaning "harbour", as well as other combinations of kanji having the same pronunciation.
Mindaugas m LithuanianPossibly from Lithuanian
mintis "thought" or
minti "to remember" combined with
daug "much". This was the name of a 13th-century ruler of Lithuania.
Minea f FinnishCreated by the Finnish writer Mika Waltari for a character in his historical novel
The Egyptian (1945). He may have based it on the name
Minos, as the character is herself of Cretan origin.
Minerva f Roman Mythology, English, SpanishPossibly derived from Latin
mens meaning
"intellect", but more likely of Etruscan origin. Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom and war, approximately equivalent to the Greek goddess
Athena. It has been used as a given name in the English-speaking world since after the Renaissance.
Minh m & f VietnameseFrom Sino-Vietnamese
明 (minh) meaning
"bright". This was an adopted name of the communist revolutionary Hồ Chí Minh (1890-1969).
Minna f German (Archaic), Finnish, SwedishMeans
"love" in Old German, specifically medieval courtly love. It is also used as a short form of
Wilhelmina. This is the name of the title character in the play
Minna von Barnhelm (1767) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.
Minnie f EnglishDiminutive of
Wilhelmina. This name was used by Walt Disney for the cartoon character Minnie Mouse, introduced 1928.
Minos m Greek MythologyPossibly from a Cretan word or title meaning
"king". This was the name of a king of Crete in Greek mythology. He was the son of
Zeus and
Europa. Because Minos had refused to sacrifice a certain bull to
Poseidon, the god had caused his wife Pasiphaë to mate with the bull, which produced the half-bull creature called the Minotaur. Minos had
Daedalus construct the Labyrinth to house the beast, but it was eventually slain by
Theseus.
Mio 2 m Literature, Swedish (Modern)From the children's fantasy book
Mio, min Mio (1954) by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Mio is the name of the main character, a young boy who finds out that he is a prince in an otherworldly land. The name was apparently created by Lindgren.
Miodrag m Serbian, CroatianDerived from the element
mio, a Serbo-Croatian form of the Slavic element
milŭ meaning "dear", combined with
dorgŭ meaning "precious".
Miomir m SerbianDerived from the element
mio, a Serbian form of the Slavic element
milŭ meaning "dear", combined with
mirŭ meaning "peace" or "world".
Miraj m ArabicMeans
"ascension" in Arabic. According to Islamic tradition, this is the name of the Prophet
Muhammad's visit to the heavens to meet with earlier prophets.
Miranda f English, DutchDerived from Latin
mirandus meaning
"admirable, worthy of being admired". The name was created by Shakespeare for the heroine in his play
The Tempest (1611), in which Miranda and her father
Prospero are stranded on an island. It did not become a common English given name until the 20th century. This is also the name of one of the moons of Uranus, named after the Shakespearean character.
Mircea m RomanianRomanian form of
Mirče. This name was borne by a 14th-century ruler of Wallachia, called Mircea the Great.
Mirdza f LatvianDerived from Latvian
mirdzēt meaning
"to shine, to glitter". This is the name of a tragic character in the play
Vaidelote (1894) by the Latvian poet and playwright Aspazija.
Miriam f Hebrew, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Italian, Portuguese, Czech, Slovak, Polish, BiblicalForm of
Mary used in the Old Testament, where it belongs to the elder sister of
Moses and
Aaron. She watched over the infant Moses as the pharaoh's daughter drew him from the Nile. The name has long been popular among Jews, and it has been used as an English Christian name (alongside
Mary) since the Protestant Reformation.
Miron 2 m HebrewFrom the name of the highest mountain in Israel, Mount Meron. It is also the name of a village on its slopes, thought to be on the same site as the ancient Canaanite city of Merom.
Misaki f JapaneseFrom Japanese
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" and
咲 (saki) meaning "blossom". This name can be formed from other combinations of kanji as well.
Misao m & f JapaneseFrom Japanese
操 (misao) meaning "chastity, honour". This name can also be formed from other combinations of kanji.
Mischa m & f Dutch, GermanDutch and German form of
Misha. It is occasionally used as a feminine name in Dutch.
Misericordia f SpanishMeans
"compassion, mercy" in Spanish, ultimately from Latin
miser "poor, wretched" and
cor "heart". It is taken from the title of the Virgin
Mary,
La Virgen de la Misericordia, meaning "The Virgin of Compassion".
Mislav m CroatianDerived from the Slavic element
myslĭ "thought" or
mojĭ "my" combined with
slava "glory". This was the name of a 9th-century duke of Croatia, also called Mojslav. His name was recorded in Latin as
Muisclavo.
Mistawasis m Cree (Anglicized)Means
"big child" in Cree, derived from
ᒥᐢᑕᐦᐃ (mistahi) "big, great" and
ᐊᐋᐧᓯᐢ (awâsis) "child". This was the name of a prominent 19th-century Cree chief.
Mi-Suk f KoreanFrom Sino-Korean
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful" and
淑 (suk) meaning "good, pure, virtuous, charming", as well as other combinations of hanja characters with the same pronunciations.
Mithra m Persian MythologyFrom Avestan
𐬨𐬌𐬚𐬭𐬀 (mithra) meaning
"oath, covenant, agreement", derived from an Indo-Iranian root *
mitra meaning "that which binds". According Zoroastrian mythology Mithra was a god of light and friendship, the son of the supreme god
Ahura Mazda. Worship of him eventually spread outside of Persia to the Roman Empire, where it was known as Mithraism.
Mitică m RomanianDiminutive of
Dumitru. This is the name of a character in early 20th-century stories by the Romanian author Ion Luca Caragiale.
Mitra 1 m & f Hinduism, HindiMeans
"friend" in Sanskrit, a cognate of
Mithra. This is the name of a Vedic god (
मित्र) who is associated with friendship and contracts and is frequently paired with the god
Varuna. The feminine form
मित्रा (spelled with a final long vowel) is also transcribed as
Mitra.
Mitra 2 f PersianModern variant of
Mithra used as a feminine name. The true Modern Persian form of
Mithra is in fact
Mehr.
Mittens m & f PetFrom the plural of the English word
mitten. This is a common name for cats, given because of a distinctive colouration of the paws.
Miyako f JapaneseFrom Japanese
美 (mi) meaning "beautiful",
夜 (ya) meaning "night" and
子 (ko) meaning "child". This name can be formed from other combinations of kanji as well.
Mneme f Greek MythologyMeans
"memory" in Greek. In Greek mythology she was one of the original three muses, the muse of memory.
Mnemosyne f Greek MythologyMeans
"remembrance" in Greek. In Greek mythology Mnemosyne was a Titan goddess of memory. She was the mother by
Zeus of the nine Muses.
Moa f SwedishPossibly derived from Swedish
moder meaning
"mother". This was the pen name of the Swedish author Moa Martinson (real name Helga Maria Martinson).
Moab m BiblicalMeans
"of his father" in Hebrew, a derivative of
אָב (ʾav) meaning "father". In the Old Testament this is the name of a son of
Lot. He was the ancestor of the Moabites, a people who lived in the region called Moab to the east of Israel.
Moacir m TupiFrom Tupi
moasy meaning
"pain, regret". This is the name of the son of
Iracema and Martim in the novel
Iracema (1865) by José de Alencar.
Modestus m Late RomanMeans
"moderate, restrained" in Late Latin. This was the name of several saints.
Modesty f English (Rare)From the English word
modesty, ultimately from Latin
modestus "moderate", a derivative of
modus "measure".
Modu m HistoryPossibly a Middle Chinese form of the old Turkic honorific
bagatur meaning
"hero, warrior". Modu Chanyu was a 3rd-century BC ruler of the Xiongnu, a people from Mongolia.
Mohana m & f HinduismMeans
"bewitching, infatuating, charming" in Sanskrit. This is a transcription of both the masculine form
मोहन (an epithet of the Hindu gods
Shiva and
Krishna) and the feminine form
मोहना (spelled with a long final vowel).
Mohandas m HindiMeans
"servant of Mohana" from the name of the Hindu god
Mohana (an epithet of
Krishna) combined with Sanskrit
दास (dāsa) meaning "servant". A famous bearer of this name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), also known as Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian leader who struggled peacefully for independence from Britain.
Mohini f Hinduism, Hindi, MarathiMeans
"perplexing, enchanting" in Sanskrit. This was the name of a beautiful female avatar of the Hindu god
Vishnu, a form he took in order to trick the asuras (demons) into relinquishing the amrita (elixir of immortality).
Moira f Irish, Scottish, EnglishAnglicized form of
Máire. It also coincides with Greek
Μοῖρα (Moira) meaning "fate, destiny", the singular of
Μοῖραι, the Greek name for the Fates. They were the three female personifications of destiny in Greek mythology.
Moire f Scottish GaelicScottish Gaelic form of
Maria (see
Mary), typically only used to refer to the Virgin Mary. The form
Màiri is used as a given name.
Mojca f SlovenePossibly a Slovene diminutive of
Marija. Alternatively, it could be related to Slovene
moj meaning
"my, mine".
Mojmír m Czech, SlovakDerived from the Slavic elements
mojĭ meaning "my" and
mirŭ meaning "peace" or "world". This was the name of a 9th-century ruler of Moravia.
Molière m HistoryStage name adopted by the French playwright and actor Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622-1673), the author of
Tartuffe and other works. He probably borrowed the name from one of the many French towns called Meulière or Molière.
Molly f EnglishMedieval diminutive of
Mary, now often used independently. It developed from
Malle and
Molle, other medieval diminutives. James Joyce used this name in his novel
Ulysses (1922), where it belongs to Molly Bloom, the wife of the main character.
Mona 1 f Irish, EnglishAnglicized form of
Muadhnait. It is also associated with Greek
monos "one" and Leonardo da Vinci's painting the
Mona Lisa (in which case it is a contraction of Italian
ma donna meaning "my lady").
Monday m & f English (African)From the English word for the day of the week, which was derived from Old English
mona "moon" and
dæg "day". This can be given to children born on Monday, especially in Nigeria.
Monet f & m VariousFrom a French surname that was derived from either
Hamon or
Edmond. This was the surname of the French impressionist painter Claude Monet (1840-1926).
Monica f English, Italian, Romanian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Late RomanMeaning unknown, most likely of Berber or Phoenician origin. In the 4th century this name was borne by a North African saint, the mother of Saint
Augustine of Hippo, whom she converted to Christianity. Since the Middle Ages it has been associated with Latin
moneo "advisor" and Greek
μονός (monos) "one, single".
... [more] Monika f German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Slovene, Croatian, Bulgarian, Lithuanian, LatvianForm of
Monica used in various languages.
Monroe m & f EnglishFrom a Scottish surname meaning
"from the mouth of the Roe". The Roe is a river in Northern Ireland. Two famous bearers of the surname were American president James Monroe (1758-1831) and American actress Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962).
... [more] Montague m English (Rare)From an aristocratic English surname meaning
"sharp mountain", from Old French
mont agu. In Shakespeare's tragedy
Romeo and Juliet (1596) this is the surname of
Romeo and his family.
Montana f & m English (Modern)From the name of the American state, which is derived from Latin
montanus "mountainous".
Monte m English, ArmenianEither a diminutive of
Montgomery or from the Spanish or Italian vocabulary word meaning "mountain". Its use as an Armenian name is inspired by the Armenian-American revolutionary Monte Melkonian (1957-1993).
Montgomery m EnglishFrom an English surname meaning
"Gumarich's mountain" in Norman French. A notable bearer of this surname was Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976), a British army commander during World War II.
Montserrat f CatalanFrom the name of a mountain near Barcelona, the site of a monastery founded in the 10th century. The mountain gets its name from Latin
mons serratus meaning
"jagged mountain".
Montu m Egyptian MythologyFrom Egyptian
mnṯw meaning
"nomad". In Egyptian mythology he was the god of war, depicted as a man with the head of a falcon or a bull.
Morana f Slavic Mythology, CroatianFrom Old Slavic
morŭ meaning
"death, plague". In Slavic mythology this was the name of a goddess associated with winter and death.
Morandus m Late RomanMedieval Latin name of uncertain meaning. It could be derived from a Germanic name. Alternatively it might be from Latin
demorandus meaning
"lasting, staying" or
Maurus meaning
"North African, Moorish".
Moray m ScottishFrom the name of the area of Moray in Scotland or the surname derived from it (see
Moray).
Mordecai m Biblical, HebrewMeans
"servant of Marduk" in Persian. In the Old Testament Mordecai is the cousin and foster father of
Esther. He thwarted a plot to kill the Persian king, though he made an enemy of the king's chief advisor
Haman.
Mordred m Welsh Mythology, Arthurian CycleFrom Welsh
Medraut, possibly from Latin
moderatus meaning
"controlled, moderated". In Arthurian legend Mordred was the illegitimate son (in some versions nephew) of King
Arthur. Mordred first appears briefly (as
Medraut) in the 10th-century
Annales Cambriae, but he was not portrayed as a traitor until the chronicles of the 12th-century Geoffrey of Monmouth. While Arthur is away he seduces his wife
Guinevere and declares himself king. This prompts the battle of Camlann, which leads to the deaths of both Mordred and Arthur.
Morgan 1 m & f Welsh, English, FrenchFrom the Old Welsh masculine name
Morcant, which was possibly derived from Welsh
mor "sea" and
cant "circle". Since the 1980s in America
Morgan has been more common for girls than boys, perhaps due to stories of
Morgan le Fay or the fame of actress Morgan Fairchild (1950-).
Morgan 2 f Arthurian CycleModern form of
Morgen, which was used by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 12th century for the Arthurian sorceress Morgan le Fay, who was unnamed in earlier stories. Geoffrey probably did not derive it from the Welsh masculine name
Morgan, which would have been spelled
Morcant in his time. It is likely from Old Welsh
mor "sea" and the suffix
gen "born of".
Morna f ScottishAnglicized form of
Muirne used by James Macpherson in his poem
Fingal (1761), in which it is borne by the mother of the hero
Fingal.
Morpheus m Greek MythologyDerived from Greek
μορφή (morphe) meaning
"shape", referring to the shapes seen in dreams. In Greek mythology Morpheus was the god of dreams.
Morrígan f Irish MythologyMeans either
"demon queen" or
"great queen", derived from Old Irish
mor "demon, evil spirit" or
mór "great, big" combined with
rígain "queen". In Irish mythology Morrígan (called also The Morrígan) was a goddess of war and death who often took the form of a crow.
Mortimer m EnglishFrom an English surname that was derived from the name of a town in Normandy, itself meaning
"dead water, still water" in Old French.
Morven f ScottishFrom the name of a region in western Scotland, also called
Morvern or in Gaelic
A' Mhorbhairne, meaning
"the big gap". This is the location of Fingal's kingdom in James Macpherson's 18th-century poems.
Morwenna f Cornish, WelshFrom Old Cornish
moroin meaning
"maiden, girl" (related to the Welsh word
morwyn). This was the name of a 6th-century Cornish saint, said to be one of the daughters of
Brychan Brycheiniog.