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| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Language(s) | Russian |
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Greek |
| Meaning | Defender |
| Other names | |
| Variant form(s) | Alexei, Alexie, Aleksie |
| Derived | Alexios |
| Related names | Alexis Alexius |
Alexey (Russian: Алексей, romanized: Aleksey [ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej]; Bulgarian: Алексей [ɐlɛkˈsɛj]),[check Bulgarian stress] is a Russian and Bulgarian male given name derived from the Greek Aléxios (Αλέξιος), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Alexius.
Similar Ukrainian and Belarusian names are romanized as Oleksii (Олексій) and Aliaksiej (Аляксей), respectively.
The Russian Orthodox Church uses the Old Church Slavonic version, Alexiy or Aleksiy (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 name became fairly popular in Russia after the baptism of Michael of Russia's son, Alexis of Russia.[1]
The common hypocoristic 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/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, almost non-existent in Russian-speaking countries. A popular Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian female name Olesia/Olesya/Alesia/Alesya is one possible form.[citation needed]
The corresponding patronymics are Alexeyevich (male) and Alexeyevna (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.
- ^ "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...]