Veach
An English and Scottish surname usually treated as a spelling variant of Veitch.
The #6,872 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 63,061 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The main historical explanation given for Veach is that it is a reduced spelling of Veitch. In surname dictionaries, Veitch is commonly linked to a northern English and Scottish place-name or nickname tradition, though the exact origin is not always pinned down with certainty. Some older writers also tried to connect related forms with much older Pictish or local place-name theories, but these are speculative rather than settled.
History
Modern surname reference works usually treat Veach as a variant spelling of Veitch rather than an independent surname. The form appears in older records as a phonetic or regional spelling, especially in areas where Scots and northern English pronunciation influenced written surnames. The surname is uncommon today and survives chiefly in the United States and in areas with Scottish or border-country ancestry.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 20th-century surname dictionary simply cross-references Veach to Veitch, showing how often spellings were standardized only very late.
From the historical record
“Chaucer, Cant. Tales, A 331, 359-60. VEACH = Veitch, q.v. VEACO for Veacock, q.v. VEACOCK (A.-Fr.-Teut.) the French Vid(e)coq = Woodcock [O.N.Fr. videcoc, videcoq, etc. (Norm. dial, vico), a woodcock ; f. Teut. : cp. O.E. wi{o)ducocc]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)