Briggs (surname)

Briggs is a Northern English surname found mainly in West Yorkshire and derives from the Old Norse word bryggja meaning 'bridge', and could also be related to the British Brigantes which once settled Yorkshire in the ancient Brythonic kingdom of Brigantia. Notable people with the surname include:

• Adam Briggs, stage name Briggs (rapper), Australian rapper
• Alfie Briggs (1888–1952), Scottish footballer
• Allan Briggs (businessman), founder of Briggs Communications
• Allan Briggs (1873–1951), American Olympic sport shooter
• Andrew Briggs (George Andrew Davidson Briggs, born 1950) British scientist
• Andy Briggs (born 1972), British author and screenwriter
• Andy Briggs (businessman) (born 1966), British insurance executive
• Ann-Kio Briggs (born 1952), English-born Nigerian environmental and human rights activist
• Anne Briggs (born 1944), English folk singer
• Annie M. Briggs (born 1987), Canadian actress
• Ansel Briggs (1806–1881), American politician
• Arthur E. Briggs (1881–1969), California teacher, law school dean and politician
• Asa Briggs (1921–2016), English historian
• Barbara G. Briggs (born 1934), Australian botanist
• Barry Briggs (born 1934), New Zealand World Motorcycle speedway champion
• Benjamin Briggs (1835–1872), captain of the Mary Celeste
• Bill Briggs (disambiguation), multiple people, including:

• Bill Briggs (defensive end) (born 1943), American footballer
• Bill Briggs (American football coach), American football coach
• Bill Briggs (Canadian football), Canadian football player
• Bill Briggs (skier), American extreme skier and ski school director

• Billy Briggs (born 1977), American musician
• Bob Briggs (American football) (1945–1997), in American Football League and NFL
• Bob Briggs (Australian footballer) (1883–1955), Australian rules footballer
• Bob Briggs (chemist) (1905–1975), New Zealand organic chemist
• Carlos Briggs (born 1964), American basketball player
• Charles Briggs (disambiguation), multiple people

• Charles Briggs (cricketer) (1873–1949), Hampshire cricketer
• Charles Briggs (Royal Navy officer) (1858–1951), British admiral
• Charles A. Briggs, Central Intelligence Agency Office of Inspector General, 1982
• Charles Augustus Briggs (1841–1913), American Hebrew scholar and theologian
• Charles Frederick Briggs (1804–1877), American journalist, "Harry Franco"
• Charles James Briggs (1865–1941), British Major-General
• Charles L. Briggs (born 1953), American anthropologist

• Charlie Briggs (actor) (1932–1985), American actor
• Charlie Briggs (baseball) (1860–1920), baseball player
• Charlie Briggs (footballer) (1911–1993), English football goalkeeper
• Charlie Briggs (One Life to Live)
• Chuck Briggs (1960–2000), American punk rock guitarist
• Clare Briggs (1875–1930), American comics artist
• Danny Briggs (born 1991), English cricketer
• Dave Briggs (journalist) (born 1976), American television news anchor
• David Briggs (disambiguation), multiple people

• David Briggs, inventor of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
• David Briggs (American musician) (born 1943), American keyboardist and record producer
• David Briggs (Australian musician) (born 1951), Australian guitarist with Little River Band
• David Briggs (English musician) (born 1962), English organist and composer
• David Briggs (headmaster) (1917–2020), English headmaster of King's College School, Cambridge
• David Briggs (record producer) (1944–1995), American record producer
• David Briggs, High Sheriff of Cheshire
• David T. Briggs (born 1954), president of Erie Plating Company

• Derek Briggs (born 1950), Irish paleontologist
• Everett Francis Briggs (1908–2006), American Catholic priest and miners' activist
• Frank Briggs (disambiguation), several people, including

• Francis Stewart Briggs (1897–1966), Australian aviator
• Frank Briggs (footballer) (1917–1984), English soccer player
• Frank A. Briggs (1858–1898), American Governor of the state of North Dakota
• Frank O. Briggs (1851–1913), U.S. Senator from New Jersey
• Frank P. Briggs (1894–1992), U.S. Senator from Missouri

• Gary Briggs (musician), British guitarist
• Gary Briggs (footballer) (born 1959), British footballer
• George N. Briggs, American politician
• Gilbert Briggs (1890–1978), English founder of Wharfedale loudspeakers
• Greg Briggs (born 1968), American football player
• Harlan Briggs (1879–1952), American actor
• Harold Briggs (disambiguation), multiple people

• Harold Douglas Briggs (1877–1944), senior Royal Navy and Royal Air Force officer
• Harold Rawdon Briggs, director of operations for the British Army in Malaya 1950–1951
• Harold Briggs (politician) (1870–1945), British Conservative Member of Parliament

• Henry Briggs (disambiguation), multiple people

• Henry Briggs (mathematician) (1561–1630), English mathematician
• Henry Perronet Briggs (1793–1844), English painter
• Henry Shaw Briggs (1824–1887), Union Army general in the American Civil War
• Sir Henry Briggs (politician) (1844–1919), Australian politician
• Henry Briggs (footballer) (1871–1913), English footballer

• Ian Briggs (born 1958), British television writer
• Jack Briggs (disambiguation)

• Jack Briggs (broadcaster), American radio broadcaster
• Jack Briggs (cricketer) (1916–1984), English cricketer
• Jack Briggs (actor) (1920–1998), husband of American actress Ginger Rogers

• James Briggs (disambiguation), any of several people

• James Briggs (musician) (born 1978), American keyboardist and saxophonist
• James E. Briggs (1906–1979), United States Air Force general
• James Frankland Briggs (1827–1905), United States Representative from New Hampshire

• Jamie Briggs (born 1977), Australian politician
• Jason W. Briggs (1821–1899), American Latter Day Saint leader
• Jean Briggs (1929–2016), American-born Canadian anthropologist, ethnographer and linguist
• Jeff Briggs (born 1957), American composer and former computer games executive
• Jimmy Briggs (1937–2011), Scottish footballer
• Joe Bob Briggs, pseudonym of John Irving Bloom (born 1953), American film critic and actor
• John Briggs (disambiguation), multiple people by the name of John, Johnny, and other variations

• John Briggs (author), American author and university lecturer
• John Briggs (baseball) (1934–2018), American baseball pitcher
• John Briggs (bishop) (1789–1861), Vicar Apostolic of the Northern District of England
• John Briggs (East India Company officer) (1785–1875), British officer and author
• John Briggs (politician) (1930–2020), American politician
• John Briggs, activist from Florida, member of the Gainesville Eight
• John Joseph Briggs (1819–1876), writer
• John Q. Briggs (1848–1921), American Republican State Senator (1907–1911)
• John R. Briggs Jr. (1822–1872), American politician in Wisconsin
• John Thomas Briggs (1781–1865), accountant-general of the Royal Navy
• Johnny Briggs (cricketer) (1862–1902), English cricketer
• Johnny Briggs (actor) (1935–2021), English actor in soap opera Coronation Street
• Johnny Briggs (baseball) (born 1944), American former baseball outfielder
• Jon Briggs (born 1965), English voice actor and journalist
• Jonny Briggs, eponymous character in a BBC children's television programme, first broadcast in 1985

• Josephine Briggs, American nephrologist
• Karen Briggs (disambiguation), multiple people

• Karen Briggs (musician) (born 1963), American violinist
• Karen Briggs (judoka) (born 1963), British judoka

• Katharine Cook Briggs (1875–1968), American co-inventor of the Myers-Briggs personality test
• Katharine Mary Briggs (1898–1980), British author
• Kenneth Briggs (born 1933), English cricketer and RAF officer
• Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, American record producer
• Kim Briggs (handballer) (born 1977), Australian handball player and coach
• Lance Briggs (born 1980), American football player
• Lauren Briggs (born 1979), English squash player
• LeBaron Russell Briggs (1855–1934), American educator
• Leland Lawrence Briggs (1893–1975), American accounting scholar
• Lyman James Briggs (1874–1963), American physicist and civil servant
• Margaret Jane Briggs (1892–1961), New Zealand show-ring rider
• Mary Blatchley Briggs (1846– 1910), American writer and women's organizer
• Matt Briggs (born 1970), American writer
• Matthew Briggs (born 1991), English footballer
• Melancthon J. Briggs (1846–1923), American politician
• Michael Briggs (disambiguation), multiple people

• Michael Peter Briggs (scientist) (born 1944), British scientist and university administrator
• Michael Briggs (judge), British judge
• Michael Briggs (police officer), police officer from New Hampshire, shot in 2006
• Michael Briggs, Lord Briggs of Westbourne (born 1954), judge in England and Wales
• Michael Briggs (racing driver) (born 1966), South African racing driver

• Mike Briggs (politician) (born 1959), American politician
• Mike Briggs (tennis) (born 1968), American tennis player
• Nicholas Briggs (born 1961), British actor
• Nimi Briggs (born 1944), Nigerian academic
• Patricia Briggs (born 1965), American fantasy writer
• Patrick Briggs (born 1940), English cricketer, rugby player and school headmaster
• Paul Briggs (disambiguation), multiple people

• Paul Briggs (American football) (1920–2011), American football tackle
• Paul Briggs (animator) (born 1974), American artist, animator, and voice actor
• Paul Briggs (boxer) (born 1975), Australian

• Raymond Briggs (born 1934), British illustrator and author
• Robert Briggs (disambiguation), several people

• Robert Briggs (scientist) (1911–1983), cloning pioneer
• Robert Briggs (American football) (born 1941), American football player
• Robert Briggs (character), Hollywood screenwriter
• Robert Briggs (MP) (died 1615), MP for Boroughbridge
• Robert Briggs (poet) (1929–2015), American poet
• , American author and publisher, for Straight Arrow Press
• Robert H. Briggs, American lawyer and historian
• Robert O. Briggs (1927–2008), director of the University of California Marching Band
• Robert P. Briggs (1903–1998), American businessman
• Robert William Briggs (1911–1983), American biologist

• Shannon Briggs (born 1971), American boxer
• Stephen Briggs (born 1951), British Discworld adapter
• Stephen Foster Briggs (1885–1976), American engineer, co-founder of the Briggs & Stratton Company
• Ted Briggs (1923–2008), British seaman, survivor of HMS Hood
• Thomas Briggs (disambiguation), multiple people

• Thomas Briggs (coach), American football coach
• Thomas Briggs (Royal Navy officer) (1780–1852), British naval officer
• Thomas Briggs (died 1864), British banker, murdered by Franz Müller
• Sir Thomas Graham Briggs (1833–1887), of the Briggs baronets, member Executive Council of Barbados

• Tom Briggs (disambiguation), multiple people

• Tom Briggs (footballer) (1919–1999), English footballer
• Tom Briggs (gridiron football) (born 1970), American football player

• Tommy Briggs (1923–1984), English footballer
• Walter Briggs (disambiguation), multiple people

• Walter Briggs, Sr. (1877–1952), owner of the Detroit Tigers and Briggs Manufacturing Company
• Walter Briggs, Jr. (1912–1970), son of Walter Briggs, Sr. and owner of the Detroit Tigers

• William Briggs (disambiguation)

• William Briggs (physician) (1642–1704), English physician and oculist
• William Edward Briggs (1847–1903), English cotton manufacturer and Liberal politician
• Sir William Edward Briggs Priestley (1859–1932), Liberal politician
• William B. Briggs (born 1954), subject matter expert in sports and entertainment law
• William Briggs (publisher) (1836–1922), Irish-born Canadian Methodist minister and publisher
• William Perry Briggs (1856–1928), English medical officer of health
• William James Harold Briggs, (Harold Briggs (politician) 1870–1945), British Conservative
• William Ronald Briggs, (Ronnie Briggs 1943–2008), Northern Irish footballer
• William Briggs, Canadian book publishing imprint later known as Ryerson Press

Fictional characters[]

• Bobby Briggs, fictional character in American television series Twin Peaks
• Calico "Callie" Briggs, fictional character in SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron
• Hortense Briggs, fictional character in An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
• Major Garland Briggs, fictional character in Twin Peaks
• Jacqui Briggs, character in the arcade/videogame series Mortal Kombat
• Jackson "Jax" Briggs, character in the arcade/videogame series Mortal Kombat
• Jonny Briggs, main character of eponymous BBC children's drama 1985–1987
• Kim Briggs (Scrubs), mother of J.D.'s baby in American TV comedy-drama Scrubs
• Randolph Briggs, fictional character in the American television series Alice, played by Hans Conried.
• Sandra Briggs, fictional character in British soap opera Emmerdale
• Miss Briggs, character in American television series iCarly
• Uncle Briggs, host of an American children's television series which aired on WSIL-TV

See also[]

• Biggs (surname)
• Bridget (name)
• Briggs (disambiguation)