Briggs
Briggs was the 356th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 921 babies. Its best year was 2024, when it ranked 327th with 1,059 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 390 places. More babies were named Briggs in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Meaning at the bridge · English, Old English
Say it BRIGZ /brɪɡz/
- Rank in 2025
- #356 boys, up 84 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 921boys
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a boy’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 20241,059 babies
- Total since 1880
- 9,476babies recorded
What does the name Briggs mean?
Briggs is an English surname for someone who lived by a bridge, from brigg, the northern English form of bridge (Old English brycg, influenced by Old Norse bryggja). Bardsley explains Brigg as "at the bridge", and notes that short place-based surnames often add a final -s, as in Briggs and Styles. As a boy's first name it is a recent American use.
brigge (Middle English (northern), “bridge”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Brigg, Bridges.
See also: English names.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Briggs', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (1901), s.v. 'Brigg', Henry Frowde (public domain; Internet Archive scan)
Briggs popularity since 1880
A few girls are given the name too: 99 since 2013, 9 in 2025.
| Year | Rank (boys) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #356 | 921 |
| 2020 | #440 | 675 |
| 2010 | #1,175 | 154 |
| 2000 | #2,338 | 41 |
| 1990 | #5,033 | 10 |
| 1980 | #4,995 | 7 |
| 1970 | — | — |
| 1960 | #2,551 | 11 |
| 1950 | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Briggs, counting every spelling?
Briggs has no other common spelling that sounds the same. Counting every name's spellings together, it ranks #366 for boys in 2025, against #356 on the official list, because Kason/Kasen/Casen and Mohamed/Mohammad/Mohammed and Rhys/Reece/Rhyse move ahead once their spellings are combined.
How many kids will share the name Briggs?
921 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Briggs (0.26 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Briggs born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 9 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Briggs.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Briggs?
About 9,300 people born in the US named Briggs are alive today, with a median age of 6; half are between 3 and 10. That makes Briggs a young name: most people with it are children.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Briggs by state
How common Briggs was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in North Dakota (8.8×), South Dakota (6.2×), Montana (5.4×), Nebraska (4.6×), Iowa (4.5×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Briggs: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Briggs, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Briggs · Sibling names for Briggs
Questions about the name Briggs
What does Briggs mean?
Briggs means “at the bridge” (English, Old English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Briggs?
Briggs was the 356th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 921 babies. Its best year was 2024, when it ranked 327th with 1,059 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 390 places. More babies were named Briggs in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Is Briggs a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a boy’s name given the name Briggs in the US.
Where is Briggs most popular?
In 2021–2025, Briggs was most common in North Dakota (4.75 per 1,000 boys), followed by South Dakota and Wyoming.