The Forst surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 2,283 people carried this name — #13,356 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 129,900 people counted. That is up 4% from 2,195 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Forst surname
From Middle High German forst~vorst, from Old High German forst, likely from Proto-West Germanic *furhiþi.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Forst» (German), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 90 people named Forst.
11 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 15 départements, most often Bas-Rhin.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Poland’s population register
85 people named Forst have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 109 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 7 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Opole.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In the Nordic population registers
54 people named Forst are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Forst in American newspapers,
1866–1907.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 88,061 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Forst,
with a public archive behind them.
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Krištof Jan Forst d. 1778
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Milan Forst d. 2013 · aircraft pilot
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Georg Forst d. 1600 · merchant
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Wendell Forst d. 2020 · chemist
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Johann Bernhard Forst 1660–1709 · opera singer
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Johann Hubert Anton Forst 1756–1823 · painter
Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Forst.
- Forneris 196 · U.S. census
- Fornero 149 · U.S. census
- Fornes 566 · U.S. census
- Forni 589 · U.S. census
- Forray 134 · U.S. census
- Forret 187 · U.S. census
- Forster 9,116 · U.S. census
- Fort 8,117 · U.S. census
- Forte 12,023 · U.S. census
- Fortes 1,988 · U.S. census
- Forti 760 · U.S. census
- Fortier 7,634 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Forst is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.