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Meaning & History
Mid 16th Century variant of the name Wels(c)he, Welsh or Welch, itself deriving from the Middle English "walsche", Celtic, foreign, (Olde English "woelisc", a derivative of "wealh", foreign), and originally given as a distinguishing nickname to a Celt. The name is synonymous with the German "welsch", foreign, a word used to refer to the Romance-speaking peoples of southern Europe. Simon Welsche, entered in the 1279 Hundred Rolls of Bedfordshire, is the earliest recorded bearer of the name in England. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Marianne Quelch, which was dated 1566, christened at Benson, Oxfordshire.