Does anybody know what nationality these surnames are? Foster,Webb, Taylor?

Question

I am wanting to know my ancestry so I need to know this stuff. thanks

Answer 1

I know many New Zealander by these last names.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Taylor...British....not sure about the others

Answer 3

first check England...Irish...German there is a neat toy call a headphone set that and a voice messenger from YAHOO.com will let you talk to people around the world just search Yahoo.com for the voice chat rooms and you will be learning more and more everyday

Answer 4

http://www.ancestry.com

1. Foster Name Meaning and History

English: reduced form of Forster.

English: nickname from Middle English foster ‘foster parent’ (Old English fostre, a derivative of fostrian ‘to nourish or rear’).

Jewish: probably an Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames, such as Forster.

  1a: English: occupational and topographic name for someone who lived or worked in a forest (see Forrest).

English: Norman French nickname or occupational name from Old French forcetier ‘cutter’, an agent noun from forcettes ‘scissors’.

English: occupational name, by metathesis, from Old French fust(r)ier ‘blockmaker’ (a derivative of fustre ‘block of wood’).

German (Förster): occupational and topographic name for someone who lived and worked in a forest (see Forst).

Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Forst ‘forest’.

  1b. Forst Name Meaning and History

German: topographic name for someone who lived in or near a royal forest or an occupational name for someone who worked in one, from Middle High German forst ‘forest’.

Czech (Forst): from German.

2. Webb Name Meaning and History

English and Scottish: occupational name for a weaver, early Middle English webbe, from Old English webba (a primary derivative of wefan ‘to weave’; compare Weaver 1). This word survived into Middle English long enough to give rise to the surname, but was already obsolescent as an agent noun; hence the secondary forms with the agent suffixes -er and -ster.

Americanized form of various Ashkenazic Jewish cognates, including Weber and Weberman.

3. Taylor Name Meaning and History

English and Scottish: occupational name for a tailor, from Old French tailleur (Late Latin taliator, from taliare ‘to cut’). The surname is extremely common in Britain and Ireland, and its numbers have been swelled by its adoption as an Americanized form of the numerous equivalent European names, most of which are also very common among Ashkenazic Jews, for example Schneider, Szabó, and Portnov.

Answer 5

They are all English...

Taylor has to be one of the hardest names to research, there are what seems to be millions of them (along with Smith and Brown).

The only certain way to find the right Taylor ancestors is by obtaining their BMD certificates, which ends up a tidy $ $ $

Answer 6

Genealogy urban legend # 23

the origin of a name is the same as someone's ancestry.

No.  They are 2 distinct topics, and one is not a guarantee of the other. Not one is better/worse.. just different.

Names can and do come from more than one place, contrary to popular opinion.  Borrowing Ted Pack's favorite example.. the name Lee. It is both English and Chinese. We all know Robert E. Lee is definitely not Chinese (with no insult intended to the friendly hosts of the Olympics).

Looking up a surname origin is totally generic.  It tells you nothing at all about your ancestry. If you trace your ancestry, you can easily get surprised by the fact that Grandpa Taylor was adopted, and his original surname was Lee. Changes everything right there.

The only way to know your ancestry is to trace the persons, not the surname.

ps.. everyone with the same last name is not related. That's urban legend # 38.

Answer 7

The following summaries are all from Ancestry.com:

Foster

1) English, reduced from Forster; 2) English: nickname from Middle English foster "foster parent" (Old English fostre, a derivative of fostrian "to nourish or rear"); 3) Jewish: probably an Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames, such as Forster.

Webb

1) English and Scottish: occupational name for a weaver, early Middle English Webba, from Old English webba (a primary derivative of wefan "to weave"); 3) Americanized form of various Ashkenazic Jewish cognates, including Weber and Weberman.

Taylor

1)  English and Scottish: occupational name for a tailor, from Old French tailleur (Late Latin taliator, from tailiare "to cut") 3) The surname is extremely common in Britain and Ireland, and its number have been swelled by its adoption as an Americanized form of the numerous equivalent European names, most of which are very common among Askhenazic Jews, for example Schneider, Szabo, and Portnov.

Bottom Line:  You'll need to trace your family tree generation by generation to determine exactly your ethnic heritage.

Answer 8

Foster-English or French (given to a forester or shearer/scissors maker)

Webb-English (given to a weaver of fabric)

Taylor-English (occupational name)

Answer 9

Should be British. My ancestors came from Ireland in 1760, and I recognize Taylor, Webb, and Foster, as English names.  A little test, if you will, is the surname Taylor is still quite common in countries formerly under British rule, like India. I wish you lots of success - I was fortunate enough to have had relatives do all the "footwork" for me!

Answer 10

I found this for you.

Surname: Foster

This very interesting English medieval surname, the family name of the Lords Oriel of Ireland, has at least four possible origins. The first is an occupational name for a saddle tree maker, a very important occupation seven hundred or more years ago. Here the derivation is from the Old French "fustier", itself originating from the word "fustre", meaning a block of wood. This term was introduced into Britain after the 1066 Norman French invasion. Secondly, and again occupational, the name may describe a maker or user of "forcetier", these being steel shears widely used in both agriculture and textile production. A third possibility is that Foster is a contracted or dialectal spelling of Forester, a term which described a civil officer in charge of a forest. John Forester, who was recorded in the 1183 Pipe Rolls of the county of Surrey, was the first recorded bearer of this name. The last possible origin is very unusual. Here the derivation is from a shortened spelling of the Olde English pre 7th Century compound "cild-fostre", and as such an occupational nickname for a foster parent or possibly a foster child. John Foster, who was recorded in the 1373 Court Roll of the borough of Colchester, Essex, was of this source. The surname was one of the very first into the New England colonies of America. John Foster, age unknown, being recorded as being "alive in Virginea, on February 18th 1623". The first recorded spelling of the family name is probably that of Durand le Fuster, which was dated circa 1179, in the "Register of St. Bartholomew's Hospital", London, during the reign of King Henry 11nd, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189.

Surname: Webb

This famous surname recorded as Webb, Webbe, Webber and Webster, is Olde English pre 7th Century. It derives from the word "web", meaning to weave. Originally a male occupational name, the term "webbe" referred specifically to a male weaver and later "webster" to a female weaver; although this distinction was not always made in medieval English. In the pipe rolls of the county of Suffolk, we find Osbert Webbe so recorded in 1221 and Alice la Webbe, in the rolls of the borough of Colchester, in 1327. The following quotation from the famous medieval book of social history "Piers Plowman" reads: "My wife was a webbe and woollen cloth made". Later church recordings of the post medieval period include: Mary Webb, the daughter of George Webb, who was christened on March 5th 1550 at the church of St. Mary Woolnoth, in the city of London, and Mary Webbe who was christened on February 17th 1566, at the church of St. Benet Fink, also city of London. One of the earliest famine emigrants who fled Ireland in the tragic year of 1846 was Richard Webb, aged 20 yrs., who sailed on the "coffin" ship "Cornelia of Liverpool" bound for New York on January 26th 1846. Rather more happily Captain Webb was the first person to swim the twenty two miles of the English Channel in 1872. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alger se Webba which was dated circa 1100, in the "Olde English Byname Register", during the reign of King William 11, known as "Rufus", 1087 - 1100. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Surname: Taylor

This is an English surname but of French origins. It derives from the word "tailleur" meaning "a cutter-out of cloth", the surname being adopted from the medieval job description after the 12th century. It would seem that tradition dictates that the spelling as tailor refers to the trade of tailoring, whilst Taylor, Tayler, Tailour and Taylour are the surname forms, but this is arguable. What is certain is that the surname is extremely popular, and in England ranks second only to Smith in the surnames listing. It is said that over the centuries its numbers have been swelled by its adoption as the English forms of various equivalent continental names such as Schneider, Szabo, and Portnov, which have entered into Britain mainly as refugee names. Early examples of the surname recording taken from surviving rolls and registers of the medieval period include: William le Taillur in the Pipe Rolls of the county of Somerset in 1182, and Roger le Taylur in the Hundred Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1273. Among the many Taylors recorded in history are Zackary Taylor (1784 - 1850), the 12th president of the Unites States. He was a famous soldier who played a large part in the independence of Texas from Mexico, whilst Jane Taylor (1783 - 1824), was a famous childrens author whose works included the poem "Twinkle, twinkle, little star". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter Taylur. This was dated 1180, in the records of Canterbury Cathedral, during the reign of King Henry 11nd, 1154 - 1189. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

http://www.surnamedb.com/

Hope this helps.