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
• 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
• 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

See also

• Foster (disambiguation)
• Ellen Foster, novel
• Forster (disambiguation)