This unusual name is of early medieval English origin, and is an example of the common medieval practice of creating a surname from the habitual use of a nickname. In this case the nickname was used of someone who was tall, thin and bony, from the Middle English word \u201csprigge\u201d, meaning \u201ctwig\u201d or \u201cbranch\u201d. In Lonsdale, Lancashire, there is a dialect word, \u201csprig\u201d meaning \u201ca small, slender person\u201d.<\/p>\n
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It is first recorded as a vocabulary word in England in the 15th Century and is thought to be of Old Norse or Germanic origin. The form \u201cSpriggs\u201d is the patronymic, meaning \u201cson of Sprigg\u201d. Among recordings of the name in church registers are those of the christening of William, son of Jonathan Spriggs, at St. Mary\u2019s, Castlegate, York, on September 5th 1675, and, in London, of the marraige of Thomas Spriggs and Ann Forty at Lincolns Inn Chapel on December 30th 1726.<\/p>\n
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