About 20 km to the north-northeast of Papaleksi is the similar crater Spencer Jones.

This is a roughly circular crater with an eroded outer rim that has lost much of its original sharp definition.

Prior to formal naming by the IAU in 1970,[1] Papaleksi was called Crater 221.

[2] It was named after Nikolai Papaleksi who worked closely with Leonid Mandelstam.

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Papaleksi.