| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Language | Russian |
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Greek |
| Meaning | Defender |
| Other names | |
| Variant forms | Alexei, Aleksei, Aleksey |
| Related names | Alexios, Alexius, Alexis |
Alexey (Russian: Алексей, romanized: Aleksey [ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej]) is a Russian male given name derived from the Greek Aléxios (Αλέξιος), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Alexius.[1][2]
Similar Ukrainian and Belarusian names are romanized as Oleksii (Олексій) and Aliaksiej (Аляксей), respectively.
The Russian Orthodox Church uses the ecclesiastical form, Alexiy or Aleksiy (Алексий; pre-1918: Алексій), for its Saints and hierarchs (most notably, this is the form used for Patriarchs Alexius I and Alexius II). The name became fairly popular in Russia after the baptism of Michael of Russia's son, Alexis of Russia.[3]
The common hypocoristic (diminutive) is Alyosha (Алёша) or simply Lyosha (Лёша). These may be further transformed into Alyoshka, Alyoshenka, Lyoshka, Lyoha, Lyoshenka (Алёшка, Алёшенька, Лёшка, Лёха, Лёшенька, respectively), sometimes rendered as Alesha or Aleshenka in English.[4] The form Alyosha may be used as a full first name in Bulgaria (Альоша) and Armenia.
In theory, Alexia is the female form. It is, however, almost non-existent in Russian-speaking countries, where Alexandra or Olesya are more common phonetically distinct female names.[5]
The corresponding patronymics are Alexeyevich (male) and Alexeyevna (female).
The following surnames derive from Alexey and its various forms:[6]
- Alexeyev/Alekseyev
- Alexeyevsky
- Alyoshin
- Alyokhin (Alekhine, Alekhin)
- Lyoshin
- Alexeytsev/Alekseytsev/Alekseitsev
- Alexeychuk/Alekseychuk/Alekseichuk
- Alexeychik/Alekseychik/Alekseichik
- Alexeyuk/Alekseyuk
- Alexeyenko/Alekseyenko/Alekseenko
- Alexeychenko/Alekseychenko/Alekseichenko
- Alexievich
People with the given name
[edit]Royalty and historical figures
[edit]- Alexis of Russia (1629–1676), Tsar of Russia from 1645 to 1676
- Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia (1690–1718), son of Peter I the Great
- Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia (1850–1908), son of Tsar Alexander II
- Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of Russia (1875–1895), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I
- Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia (1904–1918), son of Nicholas II, the last Tsesarevich
Modern figures
[edit]- Alexey Anselm (1934–1998), Russian theoretical physicist
- Aleksey Batalov (1927–2017), Soviet and Russian actor
- Aleksey Chadov (born 1981), Russian actor
- Alexei Cherepanov (1989–2008), Russian ice hockey player
- Alexei A. Efros (born 1975), American computer scientist
- Alexei L. Efros (born 1938), American physicist
- Alexey Goloborodko (born 1994), Russian dancing contortionist
- Aleksey Inauri (1908–1993), Soviet Georgian commander
- Alexei Kovalev (born 1973), Russian ice hockey player
- Aleksei Kravchenko (born 1969), Russian actor
- Aleksey Kuleshov (born 1979), Russian volleyball player
- Alexei Leonov (1934–2019), Soviet cosmonaut, first person to conduct a space walk
- Alexei Lungu (born 1983), Moldovan politician and journalist
- Alexei Makeyev (born 1991), Russian ice hockey player
- Alexei Navalny (1976–2024), Russian politician
- Alexei Nemov (born 1976), Russian Olympic gymnast
- Alexey Pajitnov (born 1955), inventor of the popular puzzle game Tetris
- Alexei Ponikarovsky (born 1980), Ukrainian-Canadian ice hockey player
- Alexei Ramírez (born 1981), Cuban baseball player
- Alexey Rykov (1881–1938), Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet politician
- Alexei Savrasov (1830–1897), Russian artist
- Alexei Sayle (born 1952), English comedian and author
- Alexey Severtsev (born 1961), Russian doctor
- Alexei Shirov (born 1972), Latvian-Spanish chess Grandmaster
- Alexey Shor (born 1970), American composer
- Alexey Shved (born 1988), Russian basketball player
- Alexei Snegov (1898–1989), Old Bolshevik and Soviet politician
- Alexei Tezikov (1978–2020), Russian ice hockey player
- Aleksey Tolstoy (1883–1945), Russian and Soviet writer
- Alexey Vishnya (born 1964), Russian musician
- Alexei Yagudin (born 1980), Russian figure skater
Fictional characters
[edit]- Alyosha Karamazov, in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov
- Alexey Sitsevich, in the Marvel universe
Folklore
[edit]- Alyoshenka, a mummified body found in the village of Kaolinovy, Russia, famously rumored to be an alien
See also
[edit]- Alexeyev, a surname derived from the name
- Alexeyevka, a common Russian place name
- Alexi
- Aleksi
- Alexie
References
[edit]- ^ "Meaning, origin and history of the name Alexey". Behind the Name. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
- ^ "Alexey Name Meaning & Origin". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
- ^ "Алексей Муравьёв: Гален адаптировал учение Гиппократа". Вести FM. 2012-10-14. Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
…Алексий Человек Божий, который стал в России чрезвычайно популярен после того как так был крещён сын Михаила Федоровича Романова, знаменитый Алексей Михайлович, называемый Тишайшим. И после этого имя Алексей стало очень популярно на Руси…
[...Alexey the Man of God, who became extremely popular in Russia after the son of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the famous Alexey Mikhailovich, called the Quietest, was baptized in this way. And after that the name Alexey became very popular in Russia...] - ^ "Diminutives of Russian Names". MasterRussian.com. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
- ^ "Olesya". Behind the Name. Retrieved 2023-12-23.
- ^ Unbegaun, Boris Ottokar (1972). Russian Surnames. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198156352.
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