Aleksei
A masculine Russian form of the name Alexander, meaning "defender of mankind".
Name Census estimates that about 450 living Americans carry the first name Aleksei. It is a predominantly male name (97.4% of registrations). The average person named Aleksei today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aleksei births was 2001 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aleksei. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
450
~ 1 in 761,676 Americans
Peak year
2001
25 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,440
Tracked since 1994
Gender
Gender distribution for Aleksei
Aleksei leans heavily male at 97.4% of total registrations, but 12 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Aleksei as a male name
- Ranked #5,440 in 2024
- 17 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2001 (25 births)
Aleksei as a female name
- Ranked #12,131 in 1997
- 6 female births in 1997
- Peak: 1996 (6 births)
Popularity
Aleksei: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aleksei from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 175 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Aleksei remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aleksei by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Aleksei during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alekseis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Aleksei
The name Aleksei is a masculine given name of Russian origin, derived from the Greek name Alexios, which means "defender" or "helper." This name has its roots in ancient Greek culture, where it was a common name given to boys.
In the Russian Orthodox tradition, Aleksei is a popular name associated with the 14th-century Saint Aleksei, the Metropolitan of Moscow, who is revered for his piety and contributions to the Russian Orthodox Church. The name gained widespread popularity in Russia and other Slavic countries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aleksei can be found in the Primary Chronicle, an ancient Russian manuscript dating back to the 12th century. This chronicle mentions Prince Aleksei Svyatoslavich, who ruled the city of Novgorod in the late 11th century.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Aleksei. Among them is Aleksei Mikhailovich Romanov (1629-1676), the Tsar of Russia from 1645 to 1676, known for strengthening the Russian state and expanding its territories. Another prominent figure is Aleksei Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1883-1945), a renowned Russian writer and novelist best known for his science fiction works.
The name Aleksei has also been associated with Russian royalty. Aleksei Nikolaevich (1904-1918) was the son of Tsar Nicholas II and the heir apparent to the Russian throne before the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. His tragic fate, along with that of his family, has become a part of Russian history.
In the world of science, Aleksei Krylov (1863-1945) was a prominent Russian naval engineer and mathematician who made significant contributions to the theory of ship motions and vibrations. Aleksei Leonov (1934-2019) was a Soviet/Russian cosmonaut who became the first human to conduct a spacewalk in 1965.
The name Aleksei has also had its place in the arts. Aleksei Batalov (1928-2022) was a celebrated Russian actor known for his roles in classic Soviet films, while Aleksei Arbuzov (1908-1986) was a renowned Russian playwright and screenwriter.
People
Aleksei + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aleksei as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Aleksei: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aleksei?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 450 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aleksei going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 761,676 US residents.
Is Aleksei a common name?
We classify Aleksei as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 456 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aleksei most popular?
The single biggest year for Aleksei was 2001, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aleksei is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Aleksei a male name?
Yes, 97.4% of people registered as Aleksei in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.