Alan Foster
There are approximately 219 people named Alan Foster living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1,565,088 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Alan with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Foster. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
219
1 in 1,565,088
Named Alan
283K
Alive today
Named Foster
265K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 283K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1955
Average age: 51
Estimated bearers: 265K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #99
Per 100K: 77.21
Top ancestry: White (69.7%)
First name trend
Alan: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Alan. The peak year was 1955 with 9,048 births. The average person named Alan today is 51 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Foster surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Foster, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 69.7%.
- White69.7%
- Black or African American23.9%
- Hispanic or Latino2.6%
- Two or more races2.3%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Alan has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0826% of the US population, based on 283,264 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Foster appears at a rate of 77.21 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0772%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 219 people with the full name Alan Foster. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Alan
Related
Other people with the surname Foster
FAQ
Alan Foster: questions and answers
How many people are named Alan Foster?
We estimate approximately 219 people in the United States share the full name Alan Foster. That works out to about 1 in 1,565,088 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0826%) with the surname frequency (77.21 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Alan Foster?
We classify Alan Foster as "Very Rare". About 1 in 1,565,088 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Alan a male or female name?
Alan is predominantly male. Out of 362,464 total SSA registrations, 99.7% were male and 0.3% were female. See the full Alan profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.