The renaming of Alexander Pavlovich

The Grand Duke Alexander was the elder son of Grand Duke Paul and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna.
Alexander's upbringing was mostly in the hands of his grandmother, Empress Catherine II of Russia.
It was Catherine II's idea to call the boy Alexander after the Russian medieval prince, Alexander Nevsky.
Suppose Alexander had not been named Alexander.
What shall his name be?
 
Depends who names him. Ekaterina actually named him after Alexander the Great, not Nevskiy. If Paul names him, he'll more likely be Pyotr (after his unfortunate father).
 
Names like that up to th at point had not been used in the Romanov dynasty (meaning from when Mikhail was enthroned). There was at least a history of Alexander - Pyotr Velikiy had had a short-lived son by his first marriage with the name.

Boy's names since Mikhail (including Anna Leopoldovna's children):

Pyotr (6)
Alexei (4)
Pavel (4)
Ivan (3)
Fyodor/Feodor (1)
Alexander (1)
Simeon (1)
Vasili (1)
Dmitri (1)

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Родовые_имена_Романовых
 
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