Explore the Family Name Foshay

The meaning of Foshay

Americanized form of Breton (mainly Côtes-d’Armor) Le Faucheur: occupational name from French faucheur ‘mower, reaper’, with the French masculine definite article le, probably used as a translation into French of the Breton cognates, such as Le Falher, from falc’her, a word which is like the French one ultimately derived from Latin falx ‘sickle, scythe’. Compare Forsha, Forshay, Forshee, and Forshey.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Foshay in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Foshay has increased between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Foshay ranked 57,849 in the list of most popular surnames, but by 2010 it had risen to 51,830. This represents a growth in popularity of 10.4%. The number of people carrying this name also grew over this period, from 329 to 401, which is an increase of 21.88%. Consequently, the proportion of people with the surname Foshay per 100k also saw a rise from 0.12 to 0.14, marking a 16.67% increase.

20002010Change
Rank#57,849#51,83010.4%
Count32940121.88%
Proportion per 100k0.120.1416.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Foshay

In terms of ethnic identity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census reveals that there were minor shifts in the populations carrying the Foshay surname between 2000 and 2010. The majority of individuals with this last name identified as White, though this proportion decreased slightly from 96.05% to 93.02%. Over the same decade, new ethnic identities began to emerge within the Foshay population, with 2.74% identifying as Hispanic and 1.5% as Black by 2010. Additionally, there was a small percentage (2%) of individuals identifying with two or more races. However, there were no reported changes for Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native categories.

20002010Change
White96.05%93.02%-3.15%
Hispanic0%2.74%0%
Two or More Races0%2%0%
Black0%1.5%0%
Asian/Pacific Islander0%0%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%0%0%