Foster (surname)

Foster is a surname, perhaps derived from the name of a Frankish saint, Vedast, also known as Foster or St. Foster.

Other possibilities for the origins of this surname are the Old English "cild-fostre", which was a nickname for a foster parent or foster child, the Anglo-French word Forest itself, or the Old French "forceter", meaning a maker of shears.

It may refer to:

  • Abby Kelley Foster, American abolitionist
  • Abiel Foster (1735–1806), American religious leader and politician
  • Al Foster, American jazz drummer
  • Alan Dean Foster (born 1946), American writer
  • Amy Foster, (born 1992), British actor
  • Andrew Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • Andrew Foster (politician) (1870–1956), Canadian politician
    • Andrew Foster (educator) (1925–1987), American promoter of schools for the deaf
    • Andrew Foster (tennis) (b. 1972), English tennis player
    • Andrew Foster (Australian rules footballer) (b. 1985), Fremantle Dockers player
  • Andrew Foster-Williams, British classical singer
  • Arlene Foster, Northern Ireland politician
  • Audrey Hylton-Foster, Baroness Hylton-Foster, British life peer
  • Barry Foster, one of several people, including:
    • Barry Foster (actor) (1927–2002), British actor
    • Barry Foster (American football) (b. 1968), American football player
    • Barry Foster (footballer)
  • Ben Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • Ben Foster (actor) (b. 1980), American actor
    • Ben Foster (footballer) (b. 1983), English footballer
  • Bill Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • Bill Foster (baseball player) (1904–1978), Negro League baseball player.
    • Bill "The Fox" Foster (1932–2000), entertainer, self-proclaimed "World's Fastest Beer Drinker", and band leader on The Man Show
    • Bill Foster (basketball coach) (b. 1936), college basketball coach.
    • Bill Foster (Illinois politician) (b. 1955), United States Representative
  • Blake Foster, American actor
  • Bob Foster (disambiguation), one of several people
  • Brendan Foster (b. 1948), British runner
  • Brenden Foster (1997-2008), founder of the Brenden Foster Food Drive
  • Brigitte Foster-Hylton, Jamaican hurdler
  • Carey Foster (1835–1919) English chemist and physicist
  • Cecil Foster, Canadian writer
  • Charles Foster (disambiguation), one of several people including
    • Charles Foster (politician) (1828–1904), a U.S. Republican politician from Ohio
    • Charles Foster (writer) (b. 1923), British-born Canadian writer
  • Christopher Foster (disambiguation), one of several people
  • Clement le Neve Foster, British geologist
  • Danny Foster (disambiguation), one of several people
  • Dave Foster, American drummer
  • David Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • David Foster (born 1949), Canadian composer, musician, and producer
    • David Foster (woodchopper) (b. 1957), Australian champion woodcutter
  • David Kirby Foster, Baptist minister and community leader from Missouri
  • Defne Joy Foster (1975–2011), Turkish actress, presenter, VJ
  • Denzil Foster, of record producers Foster & McElroy
  • Derek Foster, British politician
  • DeShaun Foster (born 1980), American football player
  • Doctor Foster, nursery rhyme character
  • Donald Foster (politician), British politician
  • Donald W. Foster, American Professor of English and a linguistic/literary sleuth
  • Douglas A. Foster, Professor of Church History at Abilene Christian University
  • Dudley Foster (1925–1973), British actor
  • Dwight Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • Dwight Foster (Massachusetts) (1757–1823), American politician
    • Dwight Foster (hockey) (born 1957), American hockey player
  • Edward Foster (disambiguation), one of several people
  • Ephraim H. Foster, American politician
  • Ezola B. Foster, American activist
  • Fiona Foster, British television journalist
  • Florence Foster, American soprano Florence Foster Jenkins
  • Frank Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • Frank Hugh Foster (1851–1935), American Ph. D., D.D., and Congregational pastor
    • Frank Keys Foster (1854–1909), American labor leader
    • Frank William Foster (1887–1963), British RAF officer
    • Frank Foster (cricketer) (1889–1958), English cricketer
    • Frank Foster (musician) (b. 1928), American jazz saxophonist
  • Fred Foster, American songwriter
  • Gary Evans Foster, American World War I Medal of honor recipient
  • George Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • George Eulas Foster (1847–1931), Canadian politician
    • George Foster (baseball player) (born 1948), U.S. baseball player
    • George Foster (American football) (born 1980), American football player
  • Gloria Foster, American actress
  • Greg Foster (disambiguation), one of several people including
    • Greg Foster (basketball), American basketball player
    • Greg Foster (athlete), American hurdler
  • Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, American academic
  • Hal Foster, one of several people, including:
    • Hal Foster (1892–1982), comic strip creator
    • Hal Foster (art critic), American art critic
  • Hannah Webster Foster, American novelist
  • Harry Hylton-Foster, British politician
  • Harry Wickwire Foster, Canadian General in World War II
  • Henry Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • Henry Foster (scientist) (1796–1831), British soldier & scientist
    • Henry A. Foster (1800–1889), American politician
    • Henry Foster (doctor), American physician
  • Hunter Foster, American entertainer
  • Ian Foster, grid computing pioneer
  • Israel Moore Foster, American politician
  • Ivan Foster, Northern Ireland Presbyterian minister and politician
  • Jack Foster (1932–2004), New Zealand long-distance runner
  • Jack Foster (footballer) (1877–1946), English footballer
  • James Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • James Foster (iron worker) (1786–1853), English entrepreneur
    • James Foster (ice hockey) (1905–1969), Scottish-born Canadian hockey player
    • James C. Foster (fl. 1970s), American entrepreneur
    • James Foster (cricketer) (b. 1980), English cricketer
  • Jane Foster, alleged Soviet spy
  • Jeanne Robert Foster, American poet
  • Jeff Foster, American basketball player
  • Jessie Foster, Canadian prostitute
  • Jim Foster (football), Arena Football League founder
  • Jim Foster (activist), LGBT and Democratic activist
  • Jodie Foster (born 1962), US actress
  • John Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • John Foster, 1st Baron Oriel (1740–1828), English Baron
    • John Foster Snr (architect) (1758–1827), British architect
    • John Foster Jnr (architect) (1786–1846), British architect
    • John Foster (essayist) (1770–1843), English essayist
    • John Leslie Foster (1781–1842), Irish politician
    • John Wells Foster (1815–1873), American geologist
    • John G. Foster (1823–1874), American soldier
    • John W. Foster (1836–1917), American diplomat
    • John Bellamy Foster (fl. 1980s), American sociologist
    • John Foster (baseball) (b. 1978), American baseball player
  • Jon Foster, American actor
  • Jon Foster (artist), American illustrator
  • Josephine Foster, American musician
  • Juliette Foster, British television journalist
  • Kathy Foster, (born 1960) Australian basketball player
  • Keith Foster, (b. 1948) music producer
  • Karen Foster, American model and actress
  • Kimberly Foster, American actress
  • Kurtis Foster, Canadian ice hockey player
  • Lafayette S. Foster, American politician
  • Lisa Foster, Canadian actress
  • Luke Foster, English footballer
  • M. A. Foster (born 1939), author/writer
  • Marcus Foster, American educator
  • Mark Foster (disambiguation), one of several people including
    • Mark Foster (swimmer) (born 1970), British swimmer
    • Mark Foster (rugby union), English rugby union player
    • Mark Foster (golfer) (born 1975), English professional golfer
    • MRK1, Mark Foster, a dubstep artist (formerly Mark One or Markone)
    • Mark Foster (musician), American musician
      • Foster the People, the band named after Mark Foster, its lead singer
  • Maurice Foster, Canadian politician
  • Maurice Foster (cricketer), West Indian cricketer
  • Meg Foster, American actress
  • Michael Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • Michael Foster (physiologist) (1836–1907), physiologist
    • Michael Jabez Foster (born 1956), British politician
    • Michael John Foster (born 1963), British politician
    • Michael Foster (musician) (b. 1966), drummer of rock band FireHouse
  • Murphy Foster, one of several people, including:
    • Murphy J. Foster (1849–1921), American politician
    • Murphy J. Foster, Jr. (b. 1930), American politician
  • Murray Foster (b. 1967), Canadian musician
  • Myles Birket Foster, English watercolourist
  • Neal Foster (born 1972), member of the Alaska House of Representatives
  • Neil Foster, English cricketer
  • Norman Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • Norman Foster (director) (1900–1976), American film director
    • Norman Foster (Australian politician) (1921–2006), Australian politician
    • Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1935), British architect
  • Peter Foster, Australian con man
  • Phil Foster, American actor
  • Philip Foster, American businessman
  • Pops Foster (1892–1969), American jazz musician
  • Preston Foster (1901–1970), actor
  • R.E. "Tip" Foster, English footballer and cricketer
  • R. F. Foster, one of several people, including:
    • Robert Frederick Foster (1853-1945), author on rules of games
    • R. F. Foster (historian) (b. 1949), historian and author
  • Radney Foster, American musician
  • Randolph Sinks Foster, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
  • Father Reginald Foster, American Catholic priest
  • Richard Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • Richard Foster (Alaska politician) (1946-2009), second-longest serving member of the Alaska House of Representatives
    • Richard Foster (religion), Quaker author and theologian
  • Robert Frederick Foster (1853-1945), author on rules of games
  • Robert Sidney Foster, British Governor of Fiji
  • R. M. Foster (1896–1998), mathematician, specializing in topology of electrical networks
  • Ron Foster (born 1930), American actor
  • Roy Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • R. F. Foster (historian) (b. 1949), historian and author
    • Roy Foster (football player) (b. 1960), American football player
  • Rube Foster (1879–1930), pioneer of Negro League baseball
  • Rusty Foster, Kuro5hin founder
  • Sara Foster, American actress
  • Scott Michael Foster, American actor
  • Shan Foster, American college basketball player
  • Stephen Foster (1826–1864), American composer
  • Stephen Foster (disambiguation), one of several people, including:
    • Stephen C. Foster (politician) (1822–1898), the first mayor of Los Angeles
  • Susanna Foster (1924–2009), American movie actress
  • Sutton Foster (born 1975), American entertainer
  • Sydney F. Foster (1893–1973), New York judge
  • Teddy Foster (1908–1984), British bandleader
  • Theodore Foster (1752–1828), U.S. politician
  • Tim Foster, British rower
  • Vince Foster (1945–1993), attorney for Bill Clinton
  • Walter Edward Foster, Canadian politician
  • Wilder D. Foster (1819–1873), U.S. Representative from Michigan
  • Will Foster, British musician
  • William Z. Foster (1891–1961), American activist

Famous quotes containing the word foster:

    “...to many a mother’s heart has come the disappointment of a loss of power, a limitation of influence when early manhood takes the boy from the home, or when even before that time, in school, or where he touches the great world and begins to be bewildered with its controversies, trade and economics and politics make their imprint even while his lips are dewy with his mother’s kiss.”
    —J. Ellen Foster (1840–1910)