Tsesarevich^[1] (Russian: цесаревич, IPA: [tsɨsɐˈrʲevʲɪtɕ]) was the title of the heir apparent or presumptive in the Russian Empire. It either preceded or replaced the given name and patronymic.

It is often confused with the much more general term tsarevich, the title for any son of any tsar, including non-Russian rulers such as those of Crimea, Siberia, and Georgia.^[2][3]

Normally, there was only one tsesarevich at a time (an exception was Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, who was accorded the title until death, even though law gave it to his nephew), and the title was used exclusively in Russia.

The title came to be used invariably in tandem with the formal style "Successor" (Russian: наследник, romanized: naslednik), as in "His Imperial Highness the Successor Tsesarevich and Grand Prince". The wife of the Tsesarevich was the tsesarevna (Russian: цесаревна).^[4]

In 1721 Peter the Great discontinued use of "tsar" as his main title, and adopted that of imperator (emperor), whereupon the title of tsarevich (and "tsarevna", retained for life by Ivan V's daughters) fell into disuse.^[2] The Emperor's daughters were henceforth referred to as "tsesarevna" (Peter had no living son by this time). In 1762, upon succeeding to the imperial throne, Peter III accorded his only son Paul Petrovich (by the future Catherine the Great) the novel title of tsesarevich, he being the first of nine Romanov heirs who would bear it.^[2] However, at the time the title was conferred, Paul was recognised as Peter's legal son, but not as his legal heir. Nor would he be officially recognised as such by his mother after her usurpation of the throne.

More often he was internationally referred to by his other title of "Grand Duke" (actual meaning in Russian language is "Grand Prince"), which pre-dated tsesarevich, being a holdover from the Rurikid days before the grand dukes of Muscovy adopted the title of tsar. When Paul acceded to the throne in 1796, he immediately declared his son Aleksandr Pavlovich tsesarevich, and the title was confirmed by law in 1797 as the official title for the heir to the throne (incorporated into Article 145 of the Fundamental Laws).^[2] In 1799 Paul I granted the title tsesarevich to his second son Constantine Pavlovich, who, oddly, retained the title even after he renounced the throne in 1825 in favor of their younger brother, Nicholas I.^[2]

Thenceforth, each Emperor's eldest son bore the title until 1894, when Nicholas II conferred it on his brother Grand Duke George Aleksandrovich, with the stipulation that his entitlement to it would terminate upon the birth of a son to Nicholas, who was then betrothed to Alix of Hesse. When George died in 1899, Nicholas did not confer the title upon his oldest surviving brother Michael Aleksandrovich, although Nicholas's only son would not be born for another five years. That son, Alexei Nikolaevich (1904–1918), became the Russian Empire's last tsesarevich.

Picture	Name	Heir of	Birth	Became Heir to the Throne	Created Tsesarevich	Ceased to be Tsesarevich	Death	Tsesarevna
	Tsesarevich Paul Petrovich later Paul I	Catherine II	1 October 1754	9 July 1762	7 January 1762	17 November 1796 became Emperor	24 March 1801	Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg
	Tsesarevich Alexander Pavlovich later Alexander I	Paul I	23 December 1777	17 November 1796	28 November 1796	24 March 1801 became Emperor	1 December 1825	Louise of Baden
	Tsesarevich Constantine Pavlovich	Alexander I	8 May 1779	24 March 1801	8 November 1799	27 June 1831		Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
	Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich later Alexander II	Nicholas I	29 April 1818	1 December 1825	10 September 1831	2 March 1855 became Emperor	13 March 1881	Marie of Hesse and by Rhine
	Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich	Alexander II	20 September 1843	2 March 1855		24 April 1865
	Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich later Alexander III		10 March 1845	24 April 1865		13 March 1881 became Emperor	1 November 1894	Dagmar of Denmark
	Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich later Nicholas II	Alexander III	18 May 1868	13 March 1881		1 November 1894 became Emperor	17 July 1918
	Tsesarevich George Alexandrovich	Nicholas II	9 May 1871	1 November 1894		10 July 1899
	Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich		12 August 1904			15 March 1917 Monarchy abolished	17 July 1918

The wife of an heir-tsesarevich bore the title Tsesarevna (Russian: Цесаревна) – Grand Duchess. In first years of Russian Empire the female heirs of Peter I of Russia bore this title: his daughters Elizabeth of Russia (born 1709), Anna Petrovna (1708–1728) and Natalia Petrovna (1718–1725). This word is not to be confused with Tsarevna, used before 18th century for all the Tsar's daughters and daughters-in-law.

Many princesses from Western Europe, who converted to Orthodox Christianity and changed their given names accordingly, were given the patronymic Fyodorovna not because their fathers were named "Theodore", but as an allegory based on the name of Theotokos of St. Theodore, the patron icon of the Romanov family.^[5]

Picture	Name	Father	Birth	Marriage	Became Tsesarevna	Ceased to be Tsesarevna	Death	Spouse
	Maria Alexandrovna born Marie of Hesse and by Rhine	Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse (Hesse-Darmstadt)	8 August 1824	28 April 1841		2 March 1855 became Empress	3 June 1880	Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich
	Maria Feodorovna born Dagmar of Denmark	Christian IX of Denmark (Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg)	26 November 1847	9 November 1866		13 March 1881 became Empress	13 October 1928	Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich

After claiming the Russian throne in exile in 1924 Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich designated his son, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich, Tsesarevich.^[2] Since 1997 the title has been attributed to Vladimir's grandson, George Mikhailovich Romanov, whose mother, Maria Vladimirovna, conferred it on him in her capacity as pretender to the throne.^[2] Those who refer to him by a dynastic title, however, more usually address him as "grand duke".^{[citation needed]}

Until the end of the empire most people in Russia and abroad, verbally and in writing continued to refer to the Sovereign as "tsar". Perhaps for that reason the title of tsesarevich was less frequently used to refer to the heir apparent than either "tsarevich" or "grand duke".^{[citation needed]}

• List of heirs to the Russian throne