# Foster (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/foster/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 13,408 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 13,122 / 286 (2% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 97, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

English surname, reduced from Forster; also from the noun foster.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 5 | 17,901 |
| 2012 | 5 | 17,753 |
| 2013 | 9 | 11,312 |
| 2014 | 11 | 9,751 |
| 2015 | 10 | 10,380 |
| 2016 | 11 | 9,629 |
| 2017 | 16 | 7,204 |
| 2018 | 12 | 8,799 |
| 2019 | 15 | 7,479 |
| 2020 | 21 | 5,720 |
| 2021 | 17 | 6,787 |
| 2022 | 16 | 7,086 |
| 2023 | 25 | 5,170 |
| 2024 | 21 | 5,855 |
| 2025 | 14 | 7,611 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 102 | 1,550 |
| 2012 | 200 | 994 |
| 2013 | 213 | 937 |
| 2014 | 209 | 991 |
| 2015 | 196 | 1,033 |
| 2016 | 214 | 964 |
| 2017 | 223 | 937 |
| 2018 | 184 | 1,077 |
| 2019 | 227 | 945 |
| 2020 | 226 | 962 |
| 2021 | 217 | 1,011 |
| 2022 | 213 | 1,038 |
| 2023 | 232 | 966 |
| 2024 | 202 | 1,078 |
| 2025 | 264 | 901 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 4 | 3,589 |
| 2008 | 8 | 2,276 |
| 2009 | 6 | 2,837 |
| 2010 | 3 | 4,678 |
| 2011 | 5 | 3,300 |
| 2012 | 5 | 3,416 |
| 2013 | 4 | 3,822 |
| 2014 | 6 | 2,964 |
| 2015 | 7 | 2,707 |
| 2016 | 3 | 4,810 |
| 2017 | 4 | 3,996 |
| 2019 | 4 | 3,937 |
| 2020 | 4 | 3,848 |
| 2022 | 7 | 2,755 |
| 2025 | 4 | 4,275 |

## People named Foster

- Norman Foster Ramsey, American physicist (1915–2011)
- David Foster Wallace, American fiction writer and essayist (1962–2008)
- George Foster Peabody, American banker and philanthropist (1852-1938)
- Foster Brooks, American actor and comedian (1912-2001)
- Foster Moreau, American football player (born 1997)
- Wallace F. Bennett, American businessman and politician (1898–1993)
- Michael Ancram, British politician and peer (1945–2024)
- Charles Bass, American politician
- Ephraim Graham, equestrian (1888–1962)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.