Foster is from the Old English *forster* (forester) — also from *foster* (to nourish, foster-care). **A modern American baby name in the broader unisex-surname aesthetic**. **Jodie Foster (born 1962)** — American actress and director; two-time Academy Award winner for Best Actress — *The Accused* (1988) and *The Silence of the Lambs* (1991); *Taxi Driver* (1976), *Nell* (1994), *Contact* (1997), *Panic Room* (2002), *Carnage* (2011); her 14 Academy Award acting nominations make her one of the most-recognized American actresses of her generation; *True Detective: Night Country* (HBO 2024) earned her another Best Actress Emmy nomination; Yale University graduate; came out as gay in her 2013 Cecil B. DeMille Award acceptance speech. **Stephen Foster (1826-1864)** — male; American songwriter known as the father of American music; wrote *Oh! Susanna*, *Beautiful Dreamer*, and *Camptown Races*; over 200 songs; the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted him. **Sutton Foster (born 1975)** — American Broadway actress; 2x Tony Award winner. **Norman Foster** — male; British architect; Pritzker Prize (1999).
Featured throughout American cinema and music.
Foster reduces to three.