Introduction
Alexey or Aleksey (Russian: Алексе́й [ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej]; Bulgarian: Алексей [ɐlɛkˈsɛj]) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek Aléxios (Αλέξιος), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Alexius.
Alexey may also be romanized as Alexei, Aleksei, Aleksey, Alexej, Aleksej, etc. It has been commonly westernized as Alexis.
Names of many persons of Ukrainian and Belarusian origin previously known as Alexey are now often romanized as Oleksii (Олексiй) and Alaksiej (Аляксей), respectively.
The Russian Orthodox Church uses the Old Church Slavonic version, Alexiy (Алексiй, or Алексий in modern spelling), for its Saints and hierarchs (most notably, this is the form used for Patriarchs Alexius I and Alexius II).
The common hypocoristic is Alyosha (Алёша) or simply Lyosha (Лёша). These may be further transformed into Alyoshka, Alyoshenka, Lyoshka, Lyoha, Lyoshenka (Алёша, Алёшка, Алёшенька, Лёша, Лёшка, Лёха, Лёшенька), sometimes rendered as Alesha/Aleshenka in English. 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 virtually nonexistent in Russian-speaking countries. A popular Ukrainian and Belarusian female name Olesia/Olesya/Alesia/Alesya is one possible form.
The patronymics based on Alexey are Alexeyevich and Alexeev (male) and Alexeyevna and Alexeeva (female).
The following surnames derive from Alexey and its various forms:
- 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
Alexeyevka is a common Russian village name.
Persons known by first name Alexey
- Aleksei (Russian convert to Judaism)
- Aleksei Sorokin, Estonian politician
- Aleshenka, a rumored alien found in Russia
- Alexei Beletski, Ukrainian-born Israeli ice dancer
- Alexei Cherepanov (1989-2008), Russian hockey player
- Alexei A. Efros, American computer scientist
- Alexei L. Efros, American physicist
- Alexei Kovalev, Russian professional ice hockey player
- Aleksey Kuleshov, Russian volleyball player
- Alexei Leonov, pioneering Russian cosmonaut, first person to conduct a space walk
- Alexei Makeyev (born 1991), Russian ice hockey player
- Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, the son of Nicholas II of Russia and Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)
- Alexei Nemov, Russian gymnast
- Alexei Ponikarovsky, Ukrainian-Canadian professional ice hockey player
- Alexei Ramírez, Cuban baseball player
- Alexei Savrasov, Russian artist
- Alexei Sayle, English comedian and author
- Alexei Shirov, chess Grandmaster
- Alexei Yagudin, Russian figure skater
- Alexey Andreevich Anselm, Russian theoretical physicist
- Alexey Goloborodko, Russian dancing contortionist
- Alexey Pajitnov, inventor of the popular puzzle game, Tetris
- Alexey Rykov, a Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet politician
- Alexey Shved, Russian basketball player
- Alexis of Russia, Tsar of Russia from 1645 to 1676, son of Tsar Michael
- Alexey Karamazov, fictional character from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov
- Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia, son of Tsar Alexander II
- Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of Russia, grandson of Tsar Nicholas I
- Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia, son of Peter I the Great of Russia
- Aleksei Sytsevich, fictional character in the Marvel universe better known as Rhino
- Oleksii Bychenko (born 1988), Ukrainian-born Israeli figure skater, Olympian
- Alexei, a fictional character in the science fiction horror web television series Stranger Things