Baby Names › By letter

66 names for boys beginning with M, each with the meaning our corpus records and the Devanagari spelling where we hold one.
M is Maha and Manas — great, and the mind. It also carries the moon through Madhu and Mayank.
There are 66 here, each printed with its meaning and its Devanagari spelling where we hold one. Families usually arrive at a letter for one of three reasons: the birth nakshatra's pada suggests a syllable, a grandparent's name begins with it, or the family simply likes how it sounds with the surname.
Every name comes from our verified name corpus — the editorial workbooks our team maintains, cross-checked against United States birth-registration data. Names we hold no meaning for are left out rather than padded in, which is why this list is shorter than the ones that scrape a dictionary.
66 names, each with the meaning our corpus records for it.
| Name | Meaning | In Devanagari |
|---|---|---|
| Milan | Union, Togetherness | मिलन |
| Moksh | Salvation | मोक्ष |
| Madhav | Honey like sweet | माधव |
| Mihir | Sun | मिहिर |
| Manvik | Consciousness, Kind-hearted | मान्विक |
| Mohan | Charming; Enchanting | मोहन |
| Mahadev | Lord Shiva | महादेव |
| Malhar | Winner | मल्हार |
| Mukund | Lord Krishna | मुकुंद |
| Medhansh | Part of Intelligence | मेधांश |
| Manav | Human Being, Humane | मानव |
| Murari | Lord Krishna | मुरारी |
| Madhavan | Lord Krishna | माधवन |
| Madhu | From Sanskrit मधु (madhu ) meaning "honey, sweet" | मधु |
| Madhukar | From Sanskrit मधुकर (madhukara ) meaning "bee, honey-maker" | मधुकर |
| Madhur | Sweet | मधुर |
| Madhusudhan | Lord Krishna, Killer of Demon Madhu | मधुसुदन |
| Mahabaleshwar | Lord of Great Power, Lord Shiva | महाबळेश्वर |
| Mahadevan | Lord Shiva | महादेवन |
| Mahasagar | Great Ocean | महासागर |
| Mahavir | Courageous | महावीर |
| Mahendra | Lord Vishnu | महेंद्र |
| Mahesh | Ruler | महेश |
| Maheshan | Lord of the Universe, Lord Shiva | महेशन |
| Maheshwar | Lord Shiva | महेश्वर |
| Maheshwaran | Lord of the Earth | महेश्वरन |
| Mahidhar | Earth, Mountain | महीधर |
| Mahin | Earth, Great | महीन |
| Mahipal | King | महिपाल |
| Maitreya | Friend, Lord Buddha | मैत्रेय |
| Makrand | Honey | मकरंद |
| Malin | Flower Garland | मलिन |
| Mandan | Adoring | मंडन |
| Mandar | Firm | मंदार |
| Mandodhar | Patient, Steady | मंदोधर |
| Mangal | Auspicious time | मंगल |
| Mangesh | Independent | मंगेश |
| Manish | Lord of the mind | मनीष |
| Manjeet | Victor of the Mind | मंजित |
| Manjunath | Lord Shiva | मंजुनाथ |
| Manohar | Captivating heart | मनोहर |
| Manoj | Born of the mind | मनोज |
| Mansukh | Happiness of Mind | मंसुख |
| Manthan | Churning, Reflection | मंथन |
| Mantram | Hymns | मंत्रम |
| Manvendra | King among Men | मन्वेंद्र |
| Maruti | Lord Hanuman | मारुती |
| Maurya | King | मौर्य |
| Mayank | Moon | मयंक |
| Mayur | Peacock | मयूर |
| Milind | Bee | मिलिंद |
| Mitesh | One with few desires | मितेश |
| Mithilesh | King of Mithila | मिथिलेश |
| Mohandas | Servant of Mohan | मोहनदास |
| Mohanish | Lord Krishna | मोहनिश |
| Mohansai | Charming Lord | मोहनसाई |
| Mohil | Attractive, Enchanting | मोहिल |
| Mohiniraj | Lord of Mohini, Lord Krishna | मोहिनीराज |
| Mohit | Ensnarled; Charming | मोहित |
| Monish | Lord of Mind | मोनीश |
| Name | Meaning | In Devanagari |
|---|---|---|
| Motiram | Ambitious | मोतीराम |
| Mrityunjay | Conqueror of Death, Lord Shiva | मृत्युंजय |
| Mudit | Happy, Pleased | मुदित |
| Mukesh | Lord of the dumb | मुकेश |
| Mukta | Free, Liberated | मुक्त |
| Munna | Baby boy; little one; the cherished small one | मुन्ना |
These are the names on this page that show up in United States birth registrations for 2025 — a real signal of which spellings Indian families abroad are registering now. India has no comparable public register, so anyone ranking names within India is estimating.
| Name | Meaning | US births, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Milan | Union, Togetherness | 1418 |
| Moksh | Salvation | 35 |
| Madhav | Honey like sweet | 34 |
| Mihir | Sun | 30 |
| Manvik | Consciousness, Kind-hearted | 22 |
| Mohan | Charming; Enchanting | 19 |
| Mahadev | Lord Shiva | 8 |
| Malhar | Winner | 8 |
| Mukund | Lord Krishna | 8 |
| Medhansh | Part of Intelligence | 7 |
| Manav | Human Being, Humane | 5 |
| Murari | Lord Krishna | 5 |
Say the shortlist with the surname, out loud, several times. A name that is lovely alone can be unsayable in full, and the full version is what a teacher will read from a register.
Fix the spelling before you register the birth. Romanised Indian names have several accepted spellings — the one on the birth certificate has to match the school record, the passport and the Aadhaar that follow it, and correcting them later is genuinely painful.
If your family follows the panchang, the birth nakshatra's pada decides the traditional syllable. Our birth star calculator gives the star, the pada and its syllable from the date and time of birth — start there, then look for a name on this page that fits.
And check the short form and the initials, because those are what the child will actually be called.
Q: How many boys' names starting with M are on this page? — 66, each with a recorded meaning. Names whose meaning we cannot verify are not listed.
Q: Which is the most used? — Of the names here, Milan (union, togetherness) has the highest 2025 US birth count. Within India, popularity varies a great deal by state and community.
Q: Is my baby's nakshatra syllable the same as this letter? — Not necessarily. The panchang syllables are written in Devanagari and do not map one-to-one onto English letters — "Ch", "Sh" and "Th" are single sounds, for instance. Use the birth star calculator for the syllable, then match it to the Devanagari spellings in the table.
Q: Do you have girls' names for this letter? — Yes, on its own page, along with lists for the other letters and for names grouped by meaning.
Published by: theAsianparent editorial team
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