Phelps Family History & Genealogy

Summary

Phelps is a variant of the Bavarian name Guelph. It appears to have emerged in Wales and is now a common English surname.

History

It is a common misunderstanding that Phelps is related to Phillips. It is not. Phelps is a variation of Guelph. Guelph is the family name of the royal house of Hanover. Queen Victoria was a Guelph as was the current monarch, Elizabeth II until she officially changed it just before the birth of her son Andrew. 

Name Origin

Phelps does not have a meaning per se because it is a royal family name.

Spellings & Pronunciations

We don't have any alternate spellings or pronunciation information on the Phelps name. Have information to share?

Nationality & Ethnicity

Wales is the country of origin and is a variant of the Bavarian name Guelph.

Phelps is an English surname. Most of the people who carry this name are ethnically caucasian. 

Famous People named Phelps

List of people named Phelps

Anson Greene Phelps, co-founder of mining company Phelps Dodge
Austin Phelps, American clergyman and author of devotional and educational works, 19th century
Benjamin K. Phelps (1832–1880), New York County District Attorney
Bill Phelps, American politician
Brian Phelps, radio personality
Brian Phelps (diver), British former diver
Chance Phelps, a US Marine killed in action in Iraq
Charles D. Phelps, American physician
Charles E. Phelps, American Civil War-era soldier and politician
Charles Phelps Taft, prominent American lawyer and politician, brother of President William Howard Taft
Charles Phelps Taft II, Mayor of Cincinnati, son of President William Howard Taft
Christopher Phelps, American historian
Digger Phelps, American basketball coach
Edmund Phelps, Nobel Prize-winning economist at Columbia University
Edward John Phelps, late 19th century American lawyer, diplomat and politician
Eleanor Phelps, American theatre, film and television actress
Elisha Phelps, a United States Representative from Connecticut.
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, American writer
Fred Phelps, the vocally anti-gay pastor of Westboro Baptist Church, Kansas, USA
Isaac Newton Phelps-Stokes, American architect
James and Oliver Phelps, identical twins and actors
Jaycie Phelps, Olympic gymnast
Jill Farren Phelps, television producer
Jim Phelps, a fictional character from the Mission: Impossible TV series
John Phelps (regicide), a Clerk of the High Court of England and Wales which tried Charles I of England for high treason in 1649
John Jay Phelps, railroad baron, financier, publisher, judge and merchant
John E. Phelps, Union officer during the American Civil War
John M. Phelps, Republican President of the West Virginia
John S. Phelps, Governor of Missouri (1876–1881)
John W. Phelps, American Civil War general and U.S. Presidential candidate (1880)
Josh Phelps, former Major League Baseball player
Kelly Joe Phelps, singer/songwriter - world renowned blues slide guitarist
Ken Phelps, former Major League Baseball player
Kerryn Phelps, Australian doctor
Michael Phelps, American swimmer - most decorated Olympic medalist of all time
Michael E. Phelps, inventor of Positron emission tomography
Noah Phelps, American Revolutionary War-era soldier, spy, and politician
Oliver Phelps, American land speculator, settler and judge in New York
Orange Phelps, American politician and movie theater owner in Hillsboro, Oregon
Peter Phelps, Australian actor
Phelps Phelps, 38th Governor of American Samoa and United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic
Phlash Phelps, American disc jockey (DJ) on the Sirius/XM Satellite Radio Network, currently on the Sixties on 6
Richard Phelps (bell-founder), (circa 1670-1738), English maker of bells
Richard Phelps, British pentathlete
Samuel Phelps, English actor
Samuel S. Phelps, United States Senator
Sarah Phelps, British television, radio, film and freelance playwright
Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of Fred Phelps (above)
Timothy Guy Phelps, business executive and politician
Tommy Phelps, Major League Baseball pitcher
Wesley Phelps, Medal of Honor recipient
Willard Phelps, Yukon politician
William Phelps, New England colonist
William C. Phelps, Lieutenant Governor of Missouri
William Henry Phelps, ornithologist
William H. Phelps, Jr., ornithologist, son of William Henry Phelps
William Lyon Phelps, Yale Professor and author
William Wallace Phelps U.S. Representative from Minnesota in the 1800s
William Walter Phelps, New Jersey politician
William Wines Phelps, church leader and hymn writer in the early Latter Day Saints movement

In fiction

Cole Phelps, police detective in the 2011 video game L.A. Noire
Sally Phelps, Tom Sawyer's aunt in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Early Phelpses

These are the earliest records we have of the Phelps family.