Riggs is an English surname from the northern word rigg, meaning "ridge", given to someone who lived on a "ridge" or a strip of raised land. As a first name it belongs with Banks, Hayes and Brooks in the rugged surname style that spread through the American South and West in the 2010s. Riggs entered the US top 1000 in 2020, peaked at number 669 in 2024 and ranks number 776 in 2025.