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Archivesname suffix "Foster"?
A 1905 listing of automobile owners lists a Massachusetts resident as "F.P. Cook, Foster." It's quite clear in the listing that this is not a place name, but a suffix. Was this suffix once used for a foster child?
a.lanz@tx.rr.com
a.lanz@tx.rr.com
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There's a suburb of London called Cockfosters, which is thought to have been connected to/the residence of the Cock (or head, or senior) Forester. Which makes your sighting look geographical (and badly written!).
I would doubt the -foster = foster child equation, simply because surnames came into use long before fostering was institutionalised. Back then, if you looked after a child it was done informally, out of the goodness of your heart or your wish for a cheap labour force. And now, the child's ln would never get a marker like that.
I would doubt the -foster = foster child equation, simply because surnames came into use long before fostering was institutionalised. Back then, if you looked after a child it was done informally, out of the goodness of your heart or your wish for a cheap labour force. And now, the child's ln would never get a marker like that.
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why is it clear it is a suffix? if it were a suffix it would be "Cookfoster" or even "Cook Foster" (however the later case is very unlikely, when names have elements separated by an empty space these elements are often, if not always, a preposition and/or an article which "foster" obviously isn't)... You never get a name with a comma included on it... So nope, "foster" is no suffix there... It may imply foster child but it certainly is not part of the surname... A historian with expertise in early 20th century US documents or a philologist with the same expertise would have a better chance understanding what is meant by "Foster" in this context...
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