| Recipient | Dates
| General work & reason for the recognition | Award category |
| Douglas MacArthur | | | |
| Donald Matheson | 1926-2021 | D-Day Landing on the 6th June 1944 - Able seaman aboard H.M.S Black Prince. Flag Semaphore - Flag communications between ships. Telegraphist. | Knight |
| Ian MacGregor | 1912 - 1998 | Scottish-American metallurgist and industrialist | |
| Frederick William MacMonnies | | | |
| Franciszek Macharski | | | |
| Nevil Macready | | | |
| Mauricio Macri | | President of Argentina | |
| Stanisław Maczek | | Polish general | |
| Auguste Antoine Maestracci | | Recognised for his military and civil service. | TBA |
| Norman Mailer | | | |
| Jean-Christophe Maillot | | | |
| Jacques Maisonrouge | | | |
| Claude François de Malet | | | |
| Laure Manaudou | | | |
| Steve Mandanda | | World Cup winning footballer | |
| Benoît Mandelbrot | | | |
| Édouard Manet | 1832 - 1883 | French painter | TBA |
| Lata Mangeshkar | | India | |
| Charles Mangin | | | |
| Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim | 1867 - 1951 | | |
| Alexander Mantashev | 1842 - 1911 | Oil magnate, financier and philanthropist. Made a donation to build Armenian Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paris | |
| Frederick Mappin | | | |
| Sir [Frederick Mappin, 1st Baronet] | | | |
| Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcellin Marbot | | French general | |
| Antoine Adolphe Marcelin Marbot | | French general | |
| Marcel Marceau | | | |
| Peyton C. March | | | |
| André Marchal | | | |
| Stanley Marcus | | | |
| Maria of Yugoslavia | | Consort of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia | |
| Anna Marly | | | |
| Lara Marlowe | | American journalist | |
| Auguste Marmont | | | |
| Jacques Maroger | | | |
| Paule Marrot | 1902 – 1987 | Parisian textile designer | |
| Wynton Marsalis | | | |
| Albert Marshall | | | |
| George Marshall | | | |
| Richard Marshall (American general) | | | |
| Frédéric Martens | 1806 – 1885 | French photographer | Knight |
| Gregory S. Martin | | | |
| Henri Martre | | | |
| Charles Marx | | | |
| Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk | | | |
| Mashhour Ahmed Mashhour | | President of Suez Canal Authority in Egypt 1965 - 1983 | |
| Henri Gratte Maskens | | Captain in the Service of Napoleon 1, 1787 - 1871 | |
| André Masséna | | | |
| William Massey | | Prime Minister of New Zealand 1912 - 1925 | |
| Isabelle Massieu | 1844 – 1932 | French traveler, photographer and writer | |
| Jan Matejko | | | |
| Mateja Matevski | | | |
| Mireille Mathieu | | | |
| Olivier Elzéar Mathieu | | | |
| Ginette Mathiot | | | |
| Mimie Mathy | | French actress and comedian | Knight |
| Blaise Matuidi | | World Cup winning footballer | |
| Amélie Mauresmo | | French tennis champion | |
| François Mauriac | | | |
| Daniel Maximin | | | |
| Peter Mayle | | | |
| Paddy Mayne | | | |
| Robert Blair Mayne | | | |
| Kylian Mbappé | | World Cup winning footballer | |
| Paul McCartney | | | |
| | | |
| Cyrus McCormick | | | |
| James "Earthquake McGoon" McGovern Jr. | | American World War II and First Indochina War pilot | |
| Leonard William McKiel | | | |
| Beverly McLachlin | | | |
| Lesley J. McNair | | | |
| Joseph T. McNarney | | | |
| Merrill A. McPeak | | | |
| Joe Medicine Crow | | Last war chief of the Crow tribe | |
| Zubin Mehta | | | |
| Étienne Méhul | | | |
| Georges Méliès | | | |
| Antoine Brutus Menier | | | |
| Benjamin Mendy | | World Cup winning footballer | |
| Henri Menier | | | |
| Emile-Justin Menier | | | |
| Honoré Mercier | | | |
| Lennart Meri | | President of Estonia | Grand Cross |
| Angela Merkel | | | |
| Philippe-Antoine Merlin de Douai | | | |
| Yves Mersch | | | |
| Luc-Olivier Merson | | | |
| Olivier Messiaen | | Composer, organist, and pianist. | |
| Paul Métivier | | | |
| Corinne Mentzelopoulos | | | |
| André Meyer | | | |
| Gerald C. Meyers | | | |
| Joseph François Michaud | | | |
| Aníbal Milhais | | Portuguese World War I hero | |
| Darius Milhaud | | | |
| Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud | | Removed from the Légion after the second restoration of Louis XVIII | |
| Madeleine Milhaud | | | |
| Niko Miljanić | | | |
| George Millar | | | |
| Syd Millar | | | |
| Franklin Miller | | | |
| Charles Joseph Minard | | | |
| Alfred Peter Mischo | | | |
| Živojin Mišić | | | |
| Francis Mitchell (Royal Navy officer) | | | |
| Nancy Mitford | | | |
| Mizan Zainal Abidin | | Sultan of Terengganu and current Yang Di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia | |
| Narendra Modi | | Prime Minister of India | Grand Cross |
| Robert Mondavi | | | |
| Mongkut | | King of Thailand | |
| Henri Monod | 1843 - 1911 | Head of the Directorate of Public Welfare, Paris. | Knight |
| Jacques Monod | | Molecular biologist. First cousin twice removed of Henri Monod, who was also a recipient. | |
| Luc Montagnier | | | |
| Prosper Montagné | | | |
| Jean-Pierre de Montalivet | | | |
| Philippe de Montebello | | | |
| Agénor Azéma de Montgravier | | | |
| Raymond Monvoisin | | | |
| Charles Moore | | | |
| James Moore (cyclist) | | | |
| Charles Antoine Morand | | | |
| Justin Bonaventure Morard de Galles | | | |
| Charles Paul Narcisse Moreau | | | |
| Émilienne Moreau-Evrard | | | |
| Daniel Morelon | | | |
| Roland Moreno | | | |
| Michèle Morgan | | | |
| Eugène Moret, Officier | | | |
| Thomas Alfred Morgan | | | |
| Akio Morita | | | |
| Vincent de Moro-Giafferi | | | |
| Ennio Morricone | | | |
| Leslie Morshead | | | |
| James Mortimer | | | |
| Serge Moscovici | 1925 - 2014 | Social psychologist | |
| Otakar Motejl | 1932 – 2010 | | 2000 |
| Lamia Moubayed Bissat | | | TBA |
| Paul Mounet | | | |
| Mamadou Moustapha Sall | | Secretary General of Cams | |
| Gerard Muirhead-Gould | | | |
| Brian Mulroney | | Axel Munthe, Physician and writer. | |
| Alexander Murdoch | | World War II veteran | 2019 |
| Audie Murphy | 1925 - 1971 | U.S. Army soldier, actor, songwriter | |
| John Murray (soldier) | | | |
| Leonard W. Murray | | | |
| Alfred de Musset | 1810 - 1857 | French dramatist, poet, novelist | |
| Riccardo Muti | | | |