English: from Middle English balch, belch ‘balk’,
‘beam’ (Old English bælc, balca), possibly denoting
someone who lived in a house with a roof beam rather than in a simple
hut; alternatively it may have been a nickname for a man built like a
tree trunk, i.e. one of stocky, heavy build.English: nickname
from Middle English balche, belche ‘swelling’ (Old
English bælc(e)). This was probably chiefly given in the
sense ‘swelling pride’, ‘overweening arrogance’, but it can also mean
‘eructation’, ‘belch’ and may therefore in some cases have been
acquired by a man given to belching.Welsh: from the
adjective balch, which has a range of meanings—‘fine’,
‘splendid’, ‘proud’, ‘arrogant’, ‘glad’—but the predominant meaning
is ‘proud’ and from this the family name probably derives.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
222,045
Historical Documents & Family Trees with Balch
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