Riggs as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Riggs

What is the meaning of the name Riggs ?

The baby name Riggs is a Male name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced /rɪgz/ (rigz).

Riggs is English in Origin.

Riggs is an English surname-turned-given name rooted in Middle English rigg, from Old English hrycg and Old Norse hryggr, meaning “ridge” or “back.” The -s ending functions as a genitive or locative marker, yielding the sense “of the ridge” or “dweller by the ridge,” a topographic label for families who lived along a high bank or crest.

Found in medieval records across northern England and the Scottish Borders, the surname traveled to North America with early settlers. As a first name, Riggs emerged much later, riding the modern U.S. taste for brisk, one-syllable surnames, and gained momentum in the 2010s and 2020s. Pop culture uses of the surname (e.g., Lethal Weapon’s Martin Riggs) have kept the sound familiar. Variants and cognates include Rigg, the archaic Rigges, the extended Riggins, and Ridge; occasional short forms include Rig. Predominantly masculine, but occasionally unisex.