Biggs
A surname that most likely began as a nickname or a place-name form, often linked to the old name Bigg or to a ridge-related location.
The #1,581 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 13,637 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Biggs is usually treated as a variant of the older English surname Bigg, though the exact root is not certain. Some 19th-century writers connect it with a pre-Domesday personal name, Biga, while others explain it as a local or topographic name related to "the ridge." In that view, Biggs is essentially a pluralized or altered form of Bigg, with the final -s appearing as a common surname ending.
History
The name is recorded in England by the late 16th and 17th centuries, and it appears in both English and later American records. Older surname dictionaries often debate whether it is chiefly a place-name surname or descended from an earlier personal name. In practice, Biggs is most often treated as an English surname with several possible early forms rather than one single proven origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older surname scholars even described Biggs as a compromise form between Rigg and Ridge, showing how uncertain early etymologies could be.
From the historical record
“(LondonX p. 18. 1666. — Ritchard Biggs and Mary Goward : St. Jas. Clerkenwell, iii. 127. London, 3 ; Boston (U.S.), 5. Gower. — Local, a variant of”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)Notable people named Biggs
- Jason Biggs (b. 1978)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.