Alexey ( ; ), is a Russian and Bulgarian male

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin

Alexius Alexius is the Latinized form of the given name Alexios (, polytonic , "defender", cf. Alexander), especially common in the Byzantine Empire. The female form is Alexia () and its variants such as Alessia (the masculine form of which is Alessio) ...

. Similar Ukrainian and Belarusian names are romanized as Oleksii (Олексій) and Aliaksiej (Аляксей), respectively. The

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

uses the

Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic languages, South Slavic subgroup of the ...

version, Alexiy or Aleksiy (Алексiй, or Алексий in modern spelling), for its Saints and hierarchs (most notably, this is the form used for

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

s Alexius I and Alexius II). The name became fairly popular in Russia after the baptism of

Michael of Russia Michael I (; ) was Tsar of all Russia from 1613 after being elected by the Zemsky Sobor of 1613 until his death in 1645. He was elected by the Zemsky Sobor and was the first tsar of the House of Romanov, which succeeded the House of Rur ...

's son,

Alexis of Russia Alexei Mikhailovich (, ; – ), also known as Alexis, was Tsar of all Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. He was the second Russian tsar from the House of Romanov. He was the first tsar to sign laws on his own authority and his council ...

. The common hypocoristic is Alyosha () or simply Lyosha (). These may be further transformed into Alyoshka, Alyoshenka, Lyoshka, Lyoha, Lyoshenka (, respectively), sometimes rendered as Alesha/Aleshenka in English. The form Alyosha may be used as a full first name in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

(Альоша) and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. In theory, Alexia is the female form. It is, however, almost non-existent in Russian-speaking countries. A popular Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian female name Olesia/ Olesya/ Alesia/ Alesya is one possible form. The corresponding

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

s are Alexeyevich (male) and Alexeyevna (female). The following surnames derive from Alexey and its various forms: * Alexeyev/Alekseyev * Alexeyevsky * Alyoshin *

Alyokhin Alyokhin ( also transliterated as Alekhin or Alekhine or Aljechin) is a Russian-language surname derived from the given name "Alyokha", a diminutive for " Aleksey". Feminine form: Alyokhina/Alekhina (.) * Maria Alyokhina, Russian political activis ...

( Alekhine, Alekhin) * Lyoshin * Alexeytsev/Alekseytsev /Alekseitsev * Alexeychuk/Alekseychuk/Alekseichuk * Alexeychik/Alekseychik/Alekseichik * Alexeyuk/Alekseyuk * Alexey * Alexeyenko/

Alekseyenko Alekseyenko, Alekseenko, Alexeenko () is a Russified form of the Ukrainian surname Oleksiienko derived from the first name Oleksii (Oleksiy), (from Greek Alexius; Russian: Aleksey). Similar surname: Aleksenko. Notable people with the surname in ...

Alekseenko Alekseyenko, Alekseenko, Alexeenko () is a Russified form of the Ukrainian surname Oleksiienko derived from the first name Oleksii (Oleksiy), (from Greek Alexius; Russian: Aleksey). Similar surname: Aleksenko. Notable people with the surname in ...

* Alexeychenko/Alekseychenko/Alekseichenko * Alexievich Alexeyevka is a common Russian village name.

People with the given name

, Tsar of Russia from 1645 to 1676, son of Tsar Michael * Aleshenka, a rumored alien found in Russia * Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Tsar Alexander II * Alexey Andreevich Anselm, Russian theoretical physicist * Alexei Cherepanov (1989–2008), Russian hockey player * Alexei A. Efros, American computer scientist * Alexei L. Efros, American physicist * Alexey Goloborodko, Russian dancing contortionist * Alexey Goncharuk (Oleksiy Honcharuk), former Ukrainian prime minister * Aleksi Inauri (1908–1993), Soviet Georgian commander who headed the Georgian KGB * Alexei Ivanov (disambiguation), several people * Alexey Karamazov, fictional character from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's '' The Brothers Karamazov'' * Alexei Kovalev, Russian professional ice hockey player * Aleksei Yevgenyevich Kravchenko, Russian actor * Aleksey Kuleshov, Russian volleyball player * Alexei Leonov, pioneering Russian cosmonaut, first person to conduct a space walk *

Alexei Makeyev Alexei Makeyev (born 25 November 1991) is a Russian professional ice hockey player. He is currently playing for HC Vityaz of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Makeyev made his Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) debut playing with Avtomobilist Y ...

(born 1991), Russian ice hockey player * Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of Russia, grandson of Tsar Nicholas I *

Alexei Navalny Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny (, ; 4 June 197616 February 2024) was a Russian Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, opposition leader, anti-corruption in Russia, corruption activist and political prisoner. He founded the Anti-Corruption Found ...

(1976–2024), Russian politician * Alexei Nemov, Russian Olympic gymnast *

Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia Alexei Nikolaevich (; – 17 July 1918) was the last Russian tsesarevich (heir apparent). He was the youngest child and only son of Nicholas II, Tsar Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse), Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. He was bor ...

, the son of Nicholas II of Russia and Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse) and younger brother of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia * Alexey Pajitnov, inventor of the popular puzzle game Tetris * Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia, son of Peter I the Great * Alexei Ponikarovsky, Ukrainian-Canadian professional ice hockey player * Alexei Ramírez, Cuban baseball player * Alexey Rykov, Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet politician * Alexei Savrasov, Russian artist *

Alexei Sayle Alexei David Sayle (born 7 August 1952) is an English actor, author, stand-up comedian, television presenter and former recording artist. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. He was voted the 18th g ...

, English comedian and author * Alexei Shirov, Latvian-Spanish chess Grandmaster *

Alexey Shved Alexey Viktorovich Shved ( Russian: Алексей Викторович Швед; born December 16, 1988) is a Russian professional basketball player who plays for Zenit Saint Petersburg of the VTB United League. Standing at , he plays at both ...

, Russian basketball player * Alexey Shor, (born 1991) American composer * Alexey Sorokin (disambiguation), several people *Aleksei Sytsevich, fictional character in the Marvel universe, better known as

Rhino A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

* Alexei Tezikov (1978–2020), Russian ice hockey player * Alexey Vishnya, Russian musician * Alexei Yagudin, Russian figure skater

People with the given name

References

See also