Brigg
A masculine name of English origin meaning "bridge" or "bridge town".
Name Census estimates that about 172 living Americans carry the first name Brigg. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Brigg today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Brigg births was 2011 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Brigg. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
172
~ 1 in 1,992,758 Americans
Peak year
2011
16 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,635
Tracked since 1971
Popularity
Brigg: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Brigg from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 90 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Brigg by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Brigg during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Briggs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Brigg
The name Brigg is an English given name with origins dating back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English word "brycg," which means "bridge." This word stems from the Proto-Germanic root "brugjo," meaning "a wooden causeway." The name initially referred to someone who lived near a bridge or worked as a bridge keeper.
During the medieval period, the name Brigg was most commonly found in areas of England where bridges were vital for transportation and trade, such as Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 13th century, appearing in various parish records and court documents.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Brigg was Sir John Brigg, a knight who fought in the Wars of the Roses during the 15th century. He was a loyal supporter of the House of Lancaster and was knighted for his bravery on the battlefield.
Another famous bearer of the name was Thomas Brigg, an English mathematician and geometer who lived from 1559 to 1630. He is known for his contributions to the field of logarithms and for his work on trigonometric tables.
In the 18th century, there was a British naval officer named Sir Brigg Longcroft, who served in the Royal Navy during the American Revolutionary War. He was commended for his bravery and leadership during the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781.
Moving into the 19th century, one notable figure with the name Brigg was William Brigg, an English architect who designed several notable buildings in London, including the Royal Institute of British Architects headquarters on Portland Place.
In the early 20th century, there was a British explorer and adventurer named Brigg Livingstone, who led several expeditions to remote regions of Africa and Asia. His journals and writings provided valuable insights into the cultures and landscapes he encountered during his travels.
While the name Brigg is not as common today as it once was, it remains a part of the English naming tradition, carrying with it a rich history and associations with bridges, exploration, and bravery.
People
Brigg + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Brigg as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Brigg: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Brigg?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 172 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Brigg going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,992,758 US residents.
Is Brigg a common name?
We classify Brigg as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 174 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Brigg most popular?
The single biggest year for Brigg was 2011, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Brigg is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Brigg a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Brigg in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.