BabyNamesMap

Baby names › Boys

Foster

Meaning not yet sourced

Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #901 vs #4,275 in 2025

CommonRare
Rank 2015: #1,032, 2016: #963, 2017: #936, 2018: #1,077, 2019: #945, 2020: #961, 2021: #1,006, 2022: #1,037, 2023: #966, 2024: #1,076, 2025: #9011 in 6,470 boys in the US, 2025#901 · rising · was #1,032 in 2015
CommonRare
Rank 2015: #2,707, 2016: #4,810, 2017: #3,996, 2019: #3,937, 2020: #3,848, 2022: #2,756, 2025: #4,2751 in 67,984 boys in E&W, 2025#4,275 · falling · was #2,707 in 2015

Boy’s name · from a surname

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What Foster means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Foster yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #901 vs #4,275 in 2025 Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Foster?

US 2025
#901
264 babies
▲ 175 vs 2024
England & Wales 2025
#4275
4 babies
Scotland
–
Not listed

US: Rising: up from #1032 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #2707 in 2015.

00.518801920196020002025
US, 1880–2025England & Wales, 1996–2025Babies per 1,000 boys born. Dot: biggest US share (1896)

Biggest US share so far: 1896, when 43 boys got the name (#279 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

  • About 1 in 6,470 baby boys in the US in 2025
  • About 1 in 67,984 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in LA (0.58 per 1,000 boys), AL (0.56 per 1,000 boys), AR (0.56 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

AK
ME
WI
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
ND
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
HI
TX
FL
FewerMore · grey: under 5 babies, not listed

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Foster is #901 in the US and #4275 in England & Wales (2025).

Rank 2025BabiesHow commonRank 2015
US#9012641 in 6,470#1032
England & Wales#427541 in 67,984#2707
Scotland––––

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 95.0% of US babies named Foster were boys.

GirlsBoys
US 202514264
England & Wales 202504
US all years since 188028613,122
England & Wales since 1996097

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

If you like Foster

Boys

  • Harrison#116Editor’s note Steady in the US: #119 in 2015 and #116 in 2025
  • Bowen#266“son of Owen”
  • Jensen#282Editor’s note Up from #395 in 2015 to #282 in 2025 in the US
  • Remington#307“settlement by the boundary stream”
  • Oakley#454“oak + woodland clearing, glade”
  • Ford#474Editor’s note Up from #741 in 2015 to #474 in 2025 in the US

For a sister

  • Remington#511“settlement by the boundary stream”
  • Carter#454“son of Arthur”
  • Sawyer#290“one who saws”
  • Quinn#97“descendant of Chief”
  • Blakely#191Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #191 vs #1,407 in 2025
  • Sutton#181“south + town”

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Foster’s. Rank is US 2025.

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