Welch (surname)

Welch is a surname of Anglo-Saxon origin. It comes from the Old English word Welisc meaning foreign. It was used to describe those of Celtic or Welsh origin. Welch and another common surname, Walsh, share this derivation. Welsh is the most common form in Scotland, while in Ireland, where the name was carried by the Anglo-Norman invasion, the form of Walsh predominates.

Notable people with this surname include:

A–F

• Adonijah Welch (1821–1889), American politician
• Alexander Welch (1873–1962), Canadian politician
• Andrew Welch (disambiguation)
• Ann Welch (1917–2002), English pilot
• Bettina Welch (1922–1993), New Zealand actress
• Bo Welch (born 1951), American film director
• Bob Welch (disambiguation)
• Bob Welch (baseball) (1956–2014), American baseball player
• Bob Welch (musician) (1946–2012), American musician
• Brian Welch (born 1970), American musician
• Bruce Welch (born 1941), English musician
• Carolyn Welch (born 1929), American figure skater
• Christopher Evan Welch (1965–2013), American actor
• Claude E. Welch (1906–1996), American surgeon
• Claude E. Welch Jr. (born 1939), American political scientist
• Cullum Welch (1895–1980), First Baronet Welch
• Daniel Welch (disambiguation)
• Dave Welch, English poker player
• David Welch (disambiguation)
• Denise Welch (born 1958), British actress
• Denton Welch (1915–1948), English writer
• Ed Welch (born 1947), English composer
• Edward Welch (1806–1868), Welsh architect
• Edward F. Welch Jr. (1924–2008), American admiral
• Edwin Welch (1838–1916), discovered the explorer John King, sole survivor of the Burke and Wills expedition
• Florence Welch (born 1986), vocalist of Florence + the Machine
• Frank Welch (disambiguation)

G–M

• George Welch (pilot) (1918–1954), American military pilot
• Gillian Welch (born 1967), American musician
• Graeme Welch (born 1972), English cricketer
• Greg Welch (born 1964), former Australian triathlete
• Harold Welch (1912–1995), American businessman, father of Laura Bush
• Herbert George Welch (1862–1969), American bishop
• Ivo Welch (born 1963), American economist and finance academic
• Jack Welch (illustrator) (1905–1985), American illustrator
• Jack Welch (1935–2020), American businessman
• James Welch (VC) (1889–1978), English soldier
• James Welch (writer) (1940–2003), American author
• Jane Meade Welch (1854–1931), American journalist, lecturer
• Jonathon Welch (born 1958), Australian choral conductor
• Joseph N. Welch (1890–1960), American lawyer
• Justin Welch (born 1972), British musician
• Keith Welch (born 1968), footballer born in England whose clubs included Rochdale and Bristol City
• Larry D. Welch (born 1934), United States Air Force general
• Lawrence Welch (born 1945), Australian organisational theorist
• Lenny Welch (born 1938), American pop singer
• Lew Welch (1926–1971), American poet
• Lloyd R. Welch (born 1927), American information theorist
• Lorne Welch (1916–1998), English engineer, pilot and Colditz prisoner of war
• Lou Welch, fictional character from Babylon 5
• Louie Welch (1918–2008), mayor of Houston
• Laura Welch (born 1946), maiden name of Laura Bush, wife of President George W. Bush
• Madison Welch (born 1988), British glamour model
• Martin Welch (1864–1935), American schooner captain
• Michael Welch (disambiguation)
• Mickey Welch (1859–1941), American baseball player

N–Z

• Noah Welch (born 1982), American ice hockey player
• Patrick Welch (1948–2020), American lawyer and politician
• Patrick W. Welch (1965–2008), American artist
• Peter Welch (born 1947), American politician
• Philip Welch (born 1954), British mathematician
• Raquel Welch (born 1940), American actress
• Richard Welch (1929–1975), American diplomat
• Robert Welch (disambiguation)
• Ronald Welch (1909–1982), British writer
• Sean Welch (born 1965), British musician
• Suzy Welch (born 1959), American magazine editor
• Stuart Cary Welch (1928–2008), American scholar and curator of Indian and Islamic art.
• Tahnee Welch (born 1961), American actress
• Terry Welch (1939–1988), co-author of compression algorithm LZW
• Thomas Welch (1742–1816), Canadian judge
• Thomas Bramwell Welch (1825–1903), English-American entrepreneur
• Thomas Vincent Welch (1850–1903), American politician and conservationist
• Werburg Welch (1894–1990), Benedictine nun and artist
• William Welch (born 1977), American wrestler better known as The Messiah (wrestler)
• William A. Welch (1868–1941), American engineer
• William H. Welch (1850–1934), founder of Johns Hopkins Medical School
• William Welsh (actor) (1870–1946), American actor, sometimes credited as William Welch
• William Welch (printer), inventor of the modern diploma
• Winona Hazel Welch (1896–1990), American bryologist

See also

• Welch (disambiguation)
• Walsh (disambiguation)
• Walsh (surname)
• Walshe (surname)
• Welsh (surname)
• Wallace (surname)