How common is the surname Forster?

9,116 people in the United States had the surname Forster in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 33,869 Americans. It ranked 3,895th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Forster?

Robert Forster, American actor (1941–2019), followed by Ludwig Förster.

Where is the surname Forster most common?

Wikidata records people named Forster in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Australia and 3 other countries.

Is the surname Forster getting more or less common?

More common. 9,033 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 9,116 in 2010, up 0.9%.

The surname Forster

A French occupational surname, carried by 9,116 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex F623

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Forster is more common than 97.6% of them.

Origin

French origin

* As an English surname, from the noun forester. * Also as an English surname, borrowed from French fustrier (“blockmaker”), from fustre (“baulk of timber”). * As a French and Norman surname, from Old French forcetier (“cutter”), from forcettes (“scissors”). * As a German surname, spelling variant of Förster and Först (both related to Forst (“forest”)).

Forster is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

One of 791 French surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 9,116 people named Forster in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 33,869 Americans. That is up 0.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 9,033.

#3,895

rank among US surnames

9,116

people in 2010

3.1

per 100,000 Americans

+0.9%

change since 2000 (was #3,615)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#3,886	Rickard	9,128	33,824
#3,887	Ling	9,127	33,828
#3,888	Volk	9,126	33,831
#3,890	Jang	9,125	33,835
#3,891	Avina	9,122	33,846
#3,893	Cordell	9,119	33,857
#3,894	Gingerich	9,117	33,865

Who is named Forster

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

91% of people named Forster identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.6% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 91%
Black (not Hispanic) 3.6%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 1.5%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Forsters

10 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Robert Forster
American actor (1941–2019)
Ludwig Förster
Austrian architect (1797-1863)
Thomas Ignatius Maria Forster
British astronomer, naturalist, and philosopher (1789-1860)
Rudolf Forster
Austrian actor (1884–1968)
Rafael Forster
Brazilian association football player, born 1990
Robert Forster
Australian singer-songwriter, born 1957
Emanuel Aloys Förster
Austrian composer, 1747–1823
Brian Forster
American actor (born 1960)
Laura Forster
Australian nurse, physician and surgeon, 1858–1917
Edward Forster
British botanist (1765-1849)

Notable Forsters come mostly from the United States (2), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (2) and Australia (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Forster

Forster has the Soundex code F623, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code F623.

Other French surnames

All 791 French surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Forster come from?: * As an English surname, from the noun forester. * Also as an English surname, borrowed from French fustrier (“blockmaker”), from fustre (“baulk of timber”). * As a French and Norman surname, from Old French forcetier (“cutter”), from forcettes (“scissors”). * As a German surname, spelling variant…
How common is the surname Forster?: 9,116 people in the United States had the surname Forster in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 33,869 Americans. It ranked 3,895th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Forster?: In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Forster identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.6% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Forster?: Robert Forster, American actor (1941–2019), followed by Ludwig Förster.
Where is the surname Forster most common?: Wikidata records people named Forster in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Australia and 3 other countries.
What type of surname is Forster?: Forster is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Forster getting more or less common?: More common. 9,033 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 9,116 in 2010, up 0.9%.