Given name
Aleksej
“to ward off; to protect”
Aleksej is a masculine given name from Ancient Greek. It is used in Swedish and Serbo-Croatian.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Aleksej goes back to Ancient Greek Ἀλεξίας, meaning “to ward off; to protect.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2018. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Aleksej through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 29
- 29 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 7 babies
- 2025
- 7
- #9,762 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 9,762 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Aleksej’s family of names
In Serbo-Croatian usage, Aleksej has a diminutive in Aljoša. In Slovenian usage, Aleksej has a conventional equivalent in the English form Alexius. In Italian usage, Aleksej has a conventional equivalent in the French form Alekseï.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Aleksej has relatives in 5 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
5 related names in 5 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 21
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Aleksej
- Alexius, Metropolitan of KievMetropolitan of Russia1290–1378
- Aleksej NikolićSlovenian basketball player (born 1995)
- Aleksej PokuševskiSerbian basketball player (born 2001)
- Alessio di MauroItalian tennis playerborn 1977
- Alexej ČepičkaCzech politician and army general (1910-1990)
- Alessio Di Bascocyclistborn 1964
- Alexis FalconieriOne of the founders of the Servite Order1200–1310
- Alessio SestuItalian footballerborn 1983
- Aleksej BokšajCzech footballer (1911-2007)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Aleksej, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Ostap
“steadfast, stable”
>99% boys
Ata
“good”
>99% boys
Dismas
“sunset”
>99% boys
Tymofiy
Tymofiy is a masculine given name from Ukrainian, ultimately from Ancient Greek.
>99% boys
Arrian
Arrian is a masculine given name from Ancient Greek.
77% boys · 23% girls
Ptolemy
Ptolemy is a masculine given name from Ancient Greek.
>99% boys
Matthaeus
“gift of YHWH (the Lord)”
>99% boys
Mikail
“who is like God?”
>99% boys