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Forrest Family History

Forrest Name Meaning

English: topographic name for someone who lived in or near a royal forest or a metonymic occupational name for a keeper or worker in one. Middle English forest was not as today a near-synonym of wood but referred specifically to a large area of woodland reserved by law for the purposes of hunting by the king and his nobles. The same applied to the European cognates both ancient Germanic and Romance. The English word is from Middle English forest ‘forest’ Old French forest Late Latin forestis (silva). This is generally taken to be a derivative of foris ‘outside’; the reference was probably to woods lying outside a settlement. On the other hand Middle High German for(e)st has been held to be a derivative of Old High German foraha ‘fir’ (see Forster ) with the addition of a collective suffix. Irish: this name is also frequently attested in Ireland where it may be a variant of Forrestal .

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


Similar surnames: Foret, Forst, Norris, Forbes, Gorrell, Fornes, Fries, Ferrett

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Where is the Forrest family from?

You can see how Forrest families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Forrest family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Forrest families were found in United Kingdom in 1891. In 1911 there were 276 Forrest families living in Ontario. This was about 44% of all the recorded Forrest's in Canada. Ontario had the highest population of Forrest families in 1911.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Forrest surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.

What did your Forrest ancestors do for a living?

In 1921, Farmer and Stenographer were the top reported jobs for men and women in the Canada named Forrest. 39% of Forrest men worked as a Farmer and 16% of Forrest women worked as a Stenographer. Some less common occupations for Americans named Forrest were Clerk and Student. .

View Census Data for Forrest | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1921

  • Farmer
    39%
  • Carpenter
    9%
  • Labourer
    7%
  • Clerk
    6%

Top Female Occupations In 1921

  • Stenographer
    16%
  • Housekeeper
    12%
  • Nurse
    10%
  • Student
    8%
Black & white image of two construction labourers

What Forrest family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 235,000 census records available for the last name Forrest. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Forrest census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search Canadian census records for Forrest

Passenger Lists

There are 46,000 immigration records available for the last name Forrest. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in Canada, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

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Draft Cards

There are 37,000 military records available for the last name Forrest. For the veterans among your Forrest ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

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What is the average Forrest lifespan?

Between 1941 and 2004, in the United States, Forrest life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1944, and highest in 2002. The average life expectancy for Forrest in 1941 was 37, and 74 in 2004.

View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Forrest

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