Spanish names that start with 'M'

Spanish girl names that start with 'M'

• María
• Marta
• Maricarmen
• Mercedes
• Manuela
• Mariana
• Manoli
• Marcela
• Micaela
• Mónica
• Macarena
• Martina
• Montserrat
• Maribel
• Marcelina
• Milagro
• Matilde
• Margarita
• Mireia
• Magdalena
• Mariela
• Maite
• Marisol
• Marisa
• Milagros
• Marisela
• Marina
• Mirian
• Modesta
• Míriam
• Manola
• Malena

As you browse through this list of Spanish girl names that start with ‘M’, you will notice two types of names.

The first group consists of the Spanish versions of names that exist in many different languages. These names originate from languages like Hebrew and Ancient Greek.

Spanish name	English name
María	Mary
Marta	Martha
Micaela	Michaela, Michelle
Mónica	Monica
Margarita	Margaret
Magdalena	Magdalene
Míriam	Miriam

The second group consists of names that do not necessarily have English equivalents. Some of these come from Spanish words. For example, the name Milagros corresponds to the Spanish word for “miracles.”

Name	Origin
Montserrat	“María de Montserrat” (Montserrat is a mountain range near Barcelona in the Spanish region of Catalonia)
Mercedes	“María de las Mercedes” (in Spanish, the word “mercedes” in the plural form of “merced” which means “mercy”)
Milagros	“María de los Milagros” (the Spanish word “milagros” means “miracles”)
Marisol	“María de la Soledad” (the Spanish word “soledad” means “solitude”)

Spanish boy names that start with 'M'

• Manuel
• Miguel
• Marcos
• Moisés
• Manolo
• Mariano
• Martín
• Mateo
• Matías
• Marcelo
• Mario
• Marco
• Miguelito
• Manolito
• Máximo
• Maximiliano
• Mauro
• Mauricio
• Modesto
• Marcial
• Misael
• Marcelino
• Melchor
• Manu
• Migue
• Marquito
• Manrique
• Marín
• Macario
• Marciano
• Medardo

Miguel

It may not be immediately obvious that Miguel is the Spanish equivalent of the English name Michael, which comes from Hebrew (via Latin).

As the Latin version (Michael) evolved into the Spanish version (Miguel), the letter ‘c’ was replaced by a ‘g.’ The same shift also occurred in some Spanish vocabulary words, such as “amigo” (friend) from “amicus” in Latin, “agua” (water) from “aqua” in Latin, and “seguridad” (security) from “securitas” in Latin.

In Spanish, Migue and Miguelito are shortened forms of the name Miguel, in the same way that in English, Mike and Mikey are shortened forms of the name Michael.

Manuel

Spanish tends to simplify the spelling of names. The Spanish name Emanuel, for instance, has a single ‘m’ while the French version (Emmanuel) has two. The simplification goes one step further by dropping the initial ‘E’ to produce Manuel, a common variant that starts with an ‘M’.

Mario and Marco

Some Spanish first names are also Italian first names, which is not surprising given that Spanish and Italian are Romance languages that both evolved from Latin.

Examples of such names include Mario and Marco (although the form Marcos is perhaps more common in Spanish-speaking countries).

Famous people with Spanish first names that begin with ‘M’

A famous namesake can add extra allure to a name while providing a source of inspiration. Many well-known individuals have Spanish first names that begin with ‘M,’ including several authors (Miguel de Cervantes, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Miguel Ángel Asturias).

Name	Occupation
Miguel de Cervantes	Spanish author who wrote “Don Quixote”
Mario Vargas Llosa	Peruvian novelist who won the Nobel Prize in Literature
Miguel Ángel Asturias	Novelist from Guatemala who won the Nobel Prize in Literature
Mariano Rajoy	Former Prime Minister of Spain
Montserrat Caballé	Spanish opera singer
Mercedes Sosa	Singer from Argentina
Macarena García	Spanish actress
Maite Perroni	Mexican actress and singer
Manolo Blahnik	Spanish fashion designer
Maribel Verdú	Spanish actress
Miguel Poveda	Spanish flamenco singer