Diggs
A surname most likely descended from the old nickname form of Richard, with Diggs as a later spelling alongside Dix and Dickson forms.
The #2,497 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 21,341 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bardsley treats Diggs as part of the Richard nickname family: Dick, Diccon, and related short forms could develop into spellings like Diggs. He also notes a possible French influence through forms such as Digon or Digun, giving the name a more Anglicized French look in some lines. In practice, the surname is best understood as a variant form tied to the medieval pet-name tradition around Richard rather than a separate word with an obvious literal meaning.
History
The name appears in historical records alongside spellings such as Dicks, Dix, Digges, Diggins, and Diglin, showing how fluid surname spelling was. Bardsley also records an early modern London marriage for a Mary Diggs in 1669, and the surname is well established in later English and American usage. Some 19th-century writers grouped Diggs with occupational surnames in lists, but the main etymological discussion points more strongly to a nickname/patronymic origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Weekley grouped Diggs with surnames showing sound shifts from Richard-based nicknames, placing it in the same broad family as Dix.
From the historical record
“I proceed to show that Higginson is equivalent to Dixon, by demonstrating that Hick and Dick were the nuks * of Richard in the hereditary surname period, and that Hick was lazified into Higg (just as Dicks became also Diggs) ; then that the diminutive of Hi^ became Hi^in, whence the patronymics of Higgins and…”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances