Ignatyev, Ignatiev, or Ignatieff or Ignatyeva is a Russian surname derived from the name Ignatius, in Russian, Ignatiy/Ignaty. In the Imperial Russia the Ignatievs noble family was established sometimes in the 17th century as a cadet branch of the Pleshchevs family from Chernihiv (Czernihów). Along with Pleshchevs, the Ignatievs family takes its roots from a Muscovite boyar Theodore Biakont who emigrated from Chernihiv to Moscow sometime in the 14th century, see Alexius, Metropolitan of Kiev.
