Find out how popular the last name Foshag is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Foshag.

Foshag, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Foshag surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Foshag in America

Foshag is the 146201st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Foshag surname appeared 113 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Foshag.

We can also compare 2010 data for Foshag to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Foshag

The surname Foshag originated in Germany during the late Middle Ages, likely derived from the German word "Foschenhag," meaning a small wooded area or hedgerow. This name would have been given to someone who lived near or worked in such a place.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Foshag can be found in the records of the city of Cologne, Germany, where a Johannes Foshag is mentioned as a landowner in the year 1397. It's possible that this individual or his ancestors may have taken on the surname after moving from a smaller village or town bearing a similar place name.

In the 16th century, the name appears in various forms in different regions of Germany, including Foschenhag, Foschenhagg, and Foschenhack. This suggests that the name had begun to spread and adapt to local dialects and spellings.

One notable figure bearing the Foshag surname was Hans Foshag, a German cartographer and mapmaker who lived in the late 16th century. His detailed maps of the region around the city of Hamburg were widely renowned for their accuracy and precision.

Another historical figure of note was Wilhelm Foshag, a German theologian and philosopher who lived in the 17th century. He was a prominent figure in the Lutheran church and authored several influential works on theology and ethics.

In the 19th century, the name Foshag appears in records from the United States, indicating that individuals bearing this surname had begun to emigrate from Germany to the New World. One such individual was Johann Foshag, who was born in Bavaria in 1825 and later settled in Pennsylvania, working as a farmer and carpenter.

The Foshag surname is also associated with a prestigious mineralogist named William Frederick Foshag, who was born in 1894 in Ohio and went on to become the curator of mineralogy at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He made significant contributions to the field of mineralogy and has several minerals named after him, including foshagite and rosemaryite.

While less common today, the surname Foshag remains a part of the rich tapestry of German-American heritage, tracing its roots back to the wooded landscapes of medieval Germany and the lives of individuals who lived and worked in those environments.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Foshag

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Foshag.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Foshag was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Foshag has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Foshag was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Foshag, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!