# Welch (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/welch/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A British and Irish surname transferred from the nickname, a variant of Walsh.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | nickname, from a description or nickname of an ancestor |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 108,987 |
| US rank (2010) | 284 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 2,833 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.0% (105,804 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /wɛlt͡ʃ/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | Welsh, Walsh, Walshe, Walch |

## Etymology

Inherited from Middle English Welich, variant of Walsch, from Old English welisc, wīelisċ, from Proto-West Germanic *walhisk, from Proto-Germanic *walhiskaz.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Welch in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 83% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 10% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.1% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Welch in the United States and Australia.

## People named Welch

- Raquel Welch, American actress (1940–2023)
- Jack Welch, American executive: General Electric CEO (1935–2020)
- Brian Welch, American guitarist (born 1970)
- Michael Welch, American actor
- Gillian Welch, American musician
- Bob Welch, American musician (1945–2012)
- William Henry Welch, American physician and scientist (1850–1934)
- Tahnee Welch, American actress
- Bo Welch, American production designer, art director, film and television director and actor
- Olivia Scott Welch, American actress
- Stuart Welch, Australian rower
- Lew Welch, American poet (1926–1971)

and 8 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Welsh, Walch, Welsch, Welk, Wallace, Wells, Willis, Walsh, Walls, Wills, Wiles, Wallis.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.