Irish Names Starting with M

Maebh, like Maeve, comes from the Irish Méabh (older Meadhbh), from the Old Irish Medb.

No. 38 for girls in Ireland in 2025 (spelled Méabh), with 116 baby girls.

Maeve in Irish is Maebh, pronounced MAYV, meaning “intoxicating.”

No. 60 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 83 baby girls.

The name that was used in Ireland for Our Lady was Muire and interestingly, her name was so honored that it was rarely used as a first name until the end of the fifteenth century.

No. 718 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 4 baby girls.

Mairéad is the Irish form of Margaret, from the Latin Margarita and the Greek margarites, “pearl.”

No. 381 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 10 baby girls.

Maolisa is a simplified spelling of the Irish Maolíosa (Old Irish Máel Ísu), from maol “devotee, servant” and Íosa “Jesus,” so “servant of Jesus” or “devotee of Jesus.”

Rare in Ireland: fewer than three baby girls a year get the name.

Margaret in Irish is Mairead, pronounced mawr-AID, meaning “pearl.”

No. 135 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 35 baby girls.

Mary in Irish is Maire, pronounced MY-ra.

No. 112 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 41 baby girls.

Meara is usually explained through the Irish mara, the form of muir, “sea,” that means “of the sea” (it is also the plural, “seas”).

Not in Ireland's 2025 tables (fewer than three babies); last recorded in 2024.

Melissa in Irish is Maolisa, pronounced mail-ISSA, meaning “follower of Jesus.”

No. 173 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 27 baby girls.

Miren in Irish is Muireann, pronounced MUR-in, meaning “sea white, sea fair.”

Rare in Ireland: fewer than three baby girls a year get the name.

Moirin in Irish is Muireann, pronounced MUR-in, meaning “sea white, sea fair.”

Rare in Ireland: fewer than three baby girls a year get the name.

Muadhnat “little noble one” is one possible source of the name. The Normans brought Monique, “giver of advice,” or it could refer to Madonna, “lady” as in the Mona Lisa.

No. 718 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 4 baby girls.

Morna in Irish is Muirne, pronounced MIR-ne, meaning “affection or festivity.”

Not in Ireland's 2025 tables (fewer than three babies); last recorded in 1986.

Means “sea white, sea fair.” The very appropriate name of the 6th century mermaid caught by a fisherman in Lough Neagh.

No. 196 for girls in Ireland in 2025, with 22 baby girls.

Muirgheal comes from the Old Irish Muirgel, from muir “sea” and geal “bright,” so “sea-bright” or, as Patrick Woulfe put it in 1923, “fair one of the sea.”

Rare in Ireland: fewer than three baby girls a year get the name.

Muirne is an Irish girl’s name from the word muirn, which Ó Dónaill’s dictionary defines as “affection, endearment, tenderness” and also “exuberance, gaiety, festive mirth.”

Not in Ireland's 2025 tables (fewer than three babies); last recorded in 2022.

Myrna in Irish is Muirne, pronounced MIR-ne, meaning “affection or festivity.”

Rare in Ireland: fewer than three baby girls a year get the name.

A name with two sources, St. Malachi (1095-1148 AD) was the Bishop of Armagh who adopted the name from the Hebrew prophet “Malachi” whose name means “my angel” or “messenger of God.”

No. 372 for boys in Ireland in 2025, with 10 baby boys.

From muir “sea” and ceardach “skilled” implying “skilled in the ways of the sea.”

Not in Ireland's 2025 tables (fewer than three babies); last recorded in 1973.