Alexey

Alexey ( ; ), is a Russian and Bulgarian male given name derived from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), 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.

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 (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.

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. Provided by Wikipedia