Belcher Family History

English (of Norman origin):: from Old French bel ch(i)ere or beu ch(i)ere (Old French beu bel ‘fair lovely’ + ch(i)ere ‘face countenance’) which had various senses including ‘fair face or looks fine manners good company good cheer food and drink hospitality’. Although ch(i)ere originally meant ‘face’ the word later came to mean also ‘demeanor disposition’ (hence English cheer) and the nickname may thus also have denoted a person of pleasant cheerful disposition.

From Old French bel beu + sire ‘fair sir’ a term of address. From at least the 15th century this name was probably confused with the name above owing to the pronunciation of Middle English beu sire and bel sire as ‘bewcher’ and ‘belsher’.