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Foster

#901 in 2025Boys' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Foster has been given to 13,408 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #901 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 264 recorded.

Babies named Foster, 2025

1 in 12,600

Foster over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Foster: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

surname transfer

What Foster means

Foster has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Foster

A separate documented entry treats Foster as a form of Vaast. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

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

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Foster (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Foster is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Foster is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 13,122 boys were recorded with the name Foster between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 264 in 2025; its best national rank was #280 in 1896.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #962 in 2020 to #901 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,033 in 2015 to #901 in 2025.

In the United States, 286 girls were recorded with the name Foster between 1914 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 25 in 2023; its best national rank was #3,836 in 1914.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #5,716 in 2020 to #7,609 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #10,375 in 2015 to #7,609 in 2025.

How common is Foster?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 12,600
264 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 6,470
0.02% of boys
Rank, 2025
#901
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
8,705 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Foster sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5004%

Put another way: gather 8,705 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Foster. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Fosters were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Foster was born before 1956 — so the typical Foster is around 69 today.

Median birth year
1956
About 69 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
14.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
31.5%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
7,031
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 14.4% of all recorded uses (1,894).

Is Foster rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+177
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+61
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+132
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.35×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (264)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
15.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#280
1896

Spellings of Foster

Foster is not the most common spelling — Lester is, with 66.0% against Foster's 6.6%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Foster is used

Across 2016–2025, Foster was most concentrated in Alabama — about 1 in 2,778 boys, against 1 in 8,105 across all states with data. It was least common in Oregon (1 in 33,333).

336 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Alabama1 in 2,778
  2. 2Indiana1 in 3,333
  3. 3Kentucky1 in 3,571
  4. 4Louisiana1 in 3,571
  5. 5Utah1 in 3,571
  6. 6Tennessee1 in 3,704
  7. 7Michigan1 in 4,545
  8. 8Arkansas1 in 4,762

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Foster around the world

Where Foster ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1999–2025
    #4,275
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #1,390
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1951–2011
    #784
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Foster

People whose public names include Foster, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Foster by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#901
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 61
Best rank ever
#280
1896
Peak year
2025
264 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
13,122
Count in 2025
264

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#7,609
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,893
Best rank ever
#3,836
1914
Peak year
2023
25 that year
First recorded
1914
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
286
Count in 2025
14

Names similar to Foster

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ColterPorterBusterKarterDexterBaxterSlaterWebsterKolterCutterLesterWinterPieterCarterAlisterMisterVesterChesterHunterKutterSutterJeterMasterSylvester

Names with a curve like Foster

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Foster, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

NoblePalmerEmeryLuciusOrenEmoryLucienForestHarrisBenedictOrinJules

Sibling names for Foster

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Foster

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