Belyaev

Belyaev is a surname of Russian origin. In Cyrillic it is Беляев and is generally understood to be derived from the given name or nickname Bely, which stems from the root bel- meaning “white.” The suffix -ev forms a patronymic or family name, implying “son of Bely” or “descendant of Bely.” The feminine form is Belyaeva.

Variants in transliteration include Beliaev, Belayev, Bel’yaev, and Beľayev, among others, reflecting different language systems and transliteration conventions. The name is commonly found in Russia and among Russian-speaking communities, and it also appears in Ukraine, Belarus, and countries with Russian diasporas.

Notable people with this surname include Dmitri Belyaev (1904–1985), a Russian geneticist celebrated for the fox domestication experiments carried out at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics in Novosibirsk. Another well-known bearer is Alexander Beliaev (1884–1942), a Russian science fiction writer famous for works such as The Amphibian Man and The Sannikov Land.

As a relatively common Slavic surname, Belyaev appears across various fields, including science, literature, and arts, and its bearers are found in historical and contemporary contexts worldwide.