English
Laforest is a variation of the name Forrest, which originated in England. Etymology may be defined as the history of a word, revealed through the analysis of its parts, and by tracing its roots to past times and even to foreign languages. Such a study is of particular interest when applied to a name. The surname Forrest can be classified as a so-called topographic name, that is, one which referred to a certain feature in the landscape, in this case, someone who lived in or near a royal forest. Written documents are an easy prey for the natural destructiveness of time; thus it is often no mean task to discover records of some of the earliest individuals who used a particular surname. In the case of Forrest, however, meticulous investigations have yielded most interesting results: The earliest written reference to someone with this surname pertains to a certain Johannes del Forest, mentioned in a document from the year 1379. Centuries ago, many families displayed mottoes - concise phrases which might express anything from a pun on the name to a religious or philosophical guiding principle - on scrolls, or below their coat of arms. The motto used by one branch of the Forrest family was "Vivunt dum virent": "They live as long as (the trees) are green". Probably one of the first individuals bearing the surname Forrest to emigrate to America was a certain Elizabeth Forrest, who at age 26 sailed from London to Baltimore on a ship named "Nancy" in the year 1775. According to the 1990 U.S. Census, Forrest is the 1176th most common surname in the United States.