Riggs
A surname from an old word for a ridge or raised strip of land, originally used for people who lived by one.
The #1,011 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 8,948 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Riggs is generally explained as a variant or plural/genitive form of Rigg, itself from the old word for a ridge. The root goes back to Old Norse hryggr and Old English hrycg, both meaning “ridge” or “backbone,” later used in Middle English as rigg or rigge. In surname use, it would have identified someone who lived on or near a ridge, or came from a place named for such a feature.
History
The name is well established in northern England, where ridge-based topographic surnames were especially common. Historical references also connect it with forms like Rigg and Rigge, and later surname writers note its familiarity in Cumberland and nearby districts. In some cases it may overlap with local place-names such as Rigglesworth or other ridge-related forms.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname writers sometimes treated Riggs as a plural or possessive form of Rigg rather than a completely separate name.
From the historical record
“[O.N. hrygg-r = O.N.E. hrycg] RIGGS, pi., and genit., of Rigg. RIGHTON for Wrighton, q.v. RIGMAIDEN (N.Eng.) Bel. to Rigma(i)den (Westm.), 13th and 14th cent. Rygmayden, Riggemayden = the Maiden Castle on the Ridge [M.E. ryg, rigge, etc., O.N.E. hrycg = 0!N. hrygg-r, a ridge + M.E. mayden, etc., a maiden — applied…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)