# Higgins (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/higgins/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Irish, from County Sligo.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Irish |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 79,803 |
| US rank (2010) | 400 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 3,869 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.2% (78,107 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈhɪɡɪnz/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Higgin, Higgans, Higgens |

## Etymology

An anglicised version of Irish Ó hUiginn (“descendant of a Viking”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Higgins in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 84% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 11% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Higgins in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Spain.

## People named Higgins

- Mary Higgins Clark, American author of suspense novels (1927–2020)
- John Michael Higgins, American actor and comedian
- Kate Higgins, American voice actress
- Colin Higgins, American film director and screenwriter, born in New Caledonia
- Missy Higgins, Australian singer and songwriter
- Clare Higgins, British actress
- Cory Higgins, American basketball player (born 1989)
- Marguerite Higgins, American journalist (1920–1966)
- Eliot Higgins, British citizen journalist and former blogger
- Billy Higgins, American jazz drummer (1936–2001)
- Clay Higgins, American politician and reserve law enforcement officer
- Michael Higgins, American actor (1920-2008)

and 21 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Huggins, Hudgins, Hodgins, Haggins, Higginson, Hawkins, Hoskins, Haskins, Hagans, Hocking, Hawkinson, Hoskinson.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.