Forsyne

Forsyne is a surname of English origin that is relatively rare in contemporary usage but appears in historical parish and civil records in the British Isles and among descendants who emigrated to North America.

The precise origin of Forsyne is uncertain. Onomastic sources suggest it may derive from a toponymic source—an archaic form of a place name—or from a variant spelling of a habitational surname that described a geographic feature or locale. The form shows variation typical of early modern English spellings, including endings that align with other surnames in -yne variants.

Records of Forsyne appear in early modern England and Scotland, with some instances into the 18th and 19th centuries. The surname remains uncommon today, with small clusters in England, Scotland, and North America.

There are no widely known individuals with Forsyne who have broad biographical coverage in major reference works. As with many rare surnames, genealogical research may reveal private individuals of interest to family historians.

The surname has occasionally been used in contemporary fiction as a plausible English surname for characters, but it is not tied to a single widely known work or character. The name may be confused with similarly spelled surnames such as Forsythe or Forsyner.