Walsh

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. A common Irish and English family name, often derived from an old word meaning a Welshman or foreigner
2. An Irish and English surname that originally referred to someone of Welsh or Celtic background
3. A family name of Irish or English origin, historically linked to people of Welsh descent

Etymology: "Walsh" is an English surname, and its story begins with a word that once meant "foreigner" before it came to name a people. In Old English, "wælisc" (also found as "wīelisc") described the Celtic-speaking peoples of Britain, the Britons who were pushed west by the Anglo-Saxon settlers, and by extension anything foreign or non-English. The same root gave us "Welsh," and the surname "Walsh" grew from it in exactly the way "Welsh" did, marking someone who came from Wales or was known as a Welshman. The Middle English form "Walsch" shows the older spelling that the surname kept while "Welsh" was standardised. Surnames of this kind were often given to people who had moved to an English community from Wales, or who were recognised as Welsh by their speech or customs. Many people with the name today trace their families to Ireland, where the spelling "Walsh" became common, but the underlying meaning remains the same: a reference to Welsh origins.