Foster
Masculine · Old French roots · “most often "forester”
Foster is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 13,122 boys against 286 girls since 1880.
Foster began as a job, not a name: a shortening of "forester," the man who kept the woods. English clerks were writing it that way in the Middle Ages, and American parents have been putting it in front of a surname for well over a century. Two beats, stress on the first, ending in the same crisp -ster as Chester and Dexter.
How old is the name Foster?
Foster was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Foster alive today was born around 1957, making them about 68 years old. About 7,300 people named Foster are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Foster most popular?
Foster peaked in 1894, reaching #278 nationally. Today it ranks #901, 623 places below that high. See the whole 1894 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From forestier (Old French) to Foster
The story of Foster
The name comes out of medieval England as a surname of trade, with more than one trade behind it — forest-keeping being the best attested. Like Forster, its close cousin, it spread through northern England and the Scottish borders, then crossed the Atlantic with English-speaking settlers. In the United States it made the ordinary journey of many British surnames: first a family name to be passed down, then a middle name given to honor a grandparent, then a first name in its own right. It has appeared on American birth records continuously since such records began being counted, never in great numbers, never absent.
Meaningscholars disagree
most often "forester" — keeper of the woods
Several Middle English occupational words collapsed into one spelling. The main reading is a contraction of "forester." Genealogists also trace it to Old English fōstre, a foster-parent or nurse; to Old French forcetier, a shearer or cutter; and to fustier, a maker of wooden saddle-trees. Any given family named Foster could descend from any of the four, and there is no way to sort them now.
How the name formed
- forestierOld French
- Forster
- Foster
Related forms: Forster · Förster · Forestier · Forestieri
Pronouncing Foster
FOSS-ter
Stress on the first syllable. Some American speakers round the first vowel closer to FAW-ster; both are standard and neither needs correcting.
Nicknames for Foster
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 2025264 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #278reached in 1894
- Change vs 2022
- +23.9%264 in 2025, from 213
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Foster in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Forster in English — spelling variant
- Förster in German — related form
- Forestier in French — related form
- Forestieri in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Ohio, Indiana.
Fosters among us
people named Foster are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 6,470 born in 2025 was named Foster
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Foster sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Foster is headed
Foster should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Foster beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Foster in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One spelling, and it is the one Americans already recognize from surnames and signage — rarely misspelled after a single hearing.
- An unbroken presence on US birth records since counting began, so it reads as established rather than newly minted.
- Works equally as a first name or a middle name honoring a family surname, which is how it entered given-name use.
- Two syllables with a hard first beat sit cleanly beside most one- and three-syllable surnames.
- In American English, "foster" is also the everyday word for foster care and foster families. Most people will not think of it twice; a few will. Worth knowing before you decide rather than after.
- It still reads as a surname to many ears, so expect the occasional roll call where it gets filed as a last name, and forms filled out in the wrong order.
- There is no ready-made short form. Foster tends to be used in full, which suits some families and leaves others improvising.
- It is much better represented among older generations than among children, so a Foster in kindergarten will likely be the only one — familiar to adults, fresh to his classmates.
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What they receive
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Foster
Masculine · Old French roots · #901 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Fosters are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,300 people named Foster are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Foster in 2025?
- Foster ranks #901 among US boy names in 2025, with 264 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Foster?
- About 1 in every 6,470 US boys born in 2025 was named Foster — 264 in all.
- Will my child share the name Foster with classmates?
- Foster will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Foster
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Guillermo#901 · Kael#903 · Nael#903 · Kannon#903 · Alistair#897 · Kaleo#897 · Marcello#897 · Lucien#897
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Foster? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Foster and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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