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[Surname] What does Whelchel mean ?
Lisa Whelchel played Blair Warner on The Facts Of Life. Does anyone know the origin & meaning of Whelchel ? I'm guessing that it would be English, Irish, Scottish, or Welsh. Would it possibly indicate that the original bearer of the name was from Wales, or of Welsh descent ? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Normally, I would have to pretty much concur with your assessment of this name origin. I have not found it in either my Irish or English resources.

So,if it is from Welch, or Walsh or Welsh than it derives from the Germanic term for "foreigner" ...however...

My suspicion is that it is from another term that I can only find in a compilation of resources ...though rather a guess ...I fine "Whel-" names often mean 'dweller' and of course "hel" could be related to "dhal" or "dale" or "thale", etc. (depending on how liberally you define it).

Therefore, my guess is a "dweller in the valley" ...and I bet I'm right ...just from the normal evolution of the names ...can anyone do me better?

Cheers!
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You are quite right, Sean. We are of German descent.
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