2000
#11,388
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,537
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.94
Rare Last name
Triggs
Derived from a place name meaning "trig point," referring to a triangulation station used in surveying.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,884 Americans carry the last name Triggs. That puts it at #11,903 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.84 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 118,847 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Triggs surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Triggs with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.9K
1 in 118,847
Census rank
#11,903
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,515 bearers of the surname Triggs in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.84 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11903rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Triggs, the largest self-reported group is White at 50.2%. The next largest groups are Black (39.8%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Triggs
The surname Triggs is believed to have originated in England, with its earliest known use dating back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English word "tricce," meaning "trickster" or "deceiver." In some records, the name is also spelled as "Trigge" or "Trig."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Triggs can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire from the year 1273, where a person named Roger Trigg is mentioned. The name is also present in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire from 1327, listing a William Trigge.
The Triggs surname is closely associated with several place names in England, such as Trigg Minor in Cornwall and Triggehorne in Dorset. These place names may have influenced the spelling and pronunciation of the surname over time.
In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the name Triggs was John Triggs, a member of the Company of Merchant Adventurers in York, who was born around 1520 and died in 1587. Another prominent individual was Sir William Triggs, a landowner and magistrate from Hertfordshire, who lived from 1598 to 1672.
During the 17th century, the Triggs surname gained prominence in the English county of Devon. One of the most notable figures from this period was Sir Thomas Triggs, a wealthy merchant and politician who served as the Mayor of Plymouth in 1658. He was born in 1610 and died in 1685.
In the 18th century, the name Triggs appeared in various records, including the parish registers of St. Mary's Church in Nottingham, where a John Triggs was recorded as having been baptized in 1722. Additionally, a Richard Triggs, born in 1745, was a prominent figure in the textile industry in Yorkshire.
Another notable individual with the surname Triggs was Sir Henry Triggs, a military officer and explorer who served in the British East India Company during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was born in 1773 and is known for his expeditions and surveys in India and the surrounding regions.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Triggs
Among Census respondents with the surname Triggs, the largest self-reported group is White at 50.2%. The next largest groups are Black (39.8%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Triggs bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Triggs surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.2% · 1,263
- Black or African American39.8% · 1,000
- Two or more races4.8% · 120
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 112
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Triggs
Triggs appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#11,669
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,687
+150 bearers (+5.9%)
Per 100,000 0.91
Rank movement Down 281 places
2020
#11,903
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,515
-172 bearers (-6.4%)
Per 100,000 0.84
Rank movement Down 234 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,388 | 2,537 | 0.94 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,669 | 2,687 | 0.91 | +150 bearers (+5.9%) | Down 281 places |
| 2020 | #11,903 | 2,515 | 0.84 | -172 bearers (-6.4%) | Down 234 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Triggs surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #11,669 | #11,903 | -2.0% |
| Count | 2,687 | 2,515 | -6.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.91 | 0.84 | -7.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Triggs bearers went from 2,687 to 2,515 (-6.4% change). The surname moved down 234 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,669 to #11,903.
FAQ
Triggs surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Triggs?
Name Census estimates that about 2,884 living Americans carry the surname Triggs. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 118,847 residents.
How common is Triggs?
Triggs ranks #11,903 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.84 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,515 people with the surname Triggs. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,884), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.84 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.84 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Triggs.
Has Triggs become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Triggs went from 2,687 recorded bearers to 2,515. That is a decrease of 172 (-6.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,669 to #11,903.
What does the Census say about the background of Triggs?
Among Census respondents with the surname Triggs, the largest self-reported group is White at 50.2%. The next largest groups are Black (39.8%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Triggs in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.2% (1,263 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Triggs appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (50.2%), Black (39.8%), Two or More Races (4.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Triggs (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Triggs mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "trig point," referring to a triangulation station used in surveying. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Triggs (0.84 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Triggs?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.