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:

    “Sadly I roam,
    Still longing for de old plantation,
    And for de old folks at home.”
    —Stephen Collins Foster (1826–1884)