How rare is the name Foster?

7,033 people in the United States have the first name Foster, about 1 in 42,945. It ranks #3,122 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

FOSTER

#3,122

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
7,033
About
1 in 42,945
This common or more
81.7%
Who bears it

Of the 7,033 people named Foster, 74.3% reported their origin as White, 15.3% as Black and 4.3% as two or more races. 93% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Foster peaked in 2025, when 278 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2025
Births that year
278
In 2025*
278
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 13,408 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Foster by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #764. The largest share of babies named Foster, 23.6%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#764241
1890s#771351
1900s#955343
1910s#8771,411
1920s#1,0151,660
1930s#1,2081,041
1940s#1,3421,070
1950s#1,936757
1960s#2,670476
1970s#3,621359
1980s#4,246361
1990s#2,923873
2000s#3,3091,009
2010s#2,2161,988
2020s#1,9391,468
Before 19014.6%
Greatest Generation 1901–2723.6%
Silent Generation 1928–4514.2%
Baby boom 1946–6411%
Generation X 1965–804.4%
Millennials 1981–966.4%
Generation Z 1997–1213.4%
2013 and later22.5%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Foster is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Foster has been most common in Kentucky (3.2×), Alabama (3.1×), and Louisiana (3×), and least common in New Jersey (0.22×).

6,807 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Foster

#3,120 Rui · 7,036#3,121 Jaliyah · 7,034#3,123 Valentino · 7,031#3,124 Karan · 7,018

Also a last name

As a last name, Foster ranks #104 of 156,621, with 218,824 people. See Foster as a last name

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