Riga surname: U.S. census count, rank and records | FamilyCrests

The Riga surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 547 people carried this name — #40,082 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 526,300 people counted. That is up 8% from 505 in 2000.

See Riga on the map Look up another surname

Share

Where the name comes from

The origin of the Riga surname

Borrowed from Italian Riga and Greek Ρήγα (Ríga).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Riga» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In Belgium’s population register

At least 460 people named Riga live in Belgium.

Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Liège.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they live today

Liège 336
Namur 43
Limburg 18
Brussels-Capital 14
Walloon Brabant 12
Flemish Brabant 10
Antwerp 8
Luxembourg Province 8

Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.

In Argentina’s national register

At least 408 people named Riga live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they live today

Buenos Aires Province 135
Córdoba 107
Mendoza 86
Santa Fe 56
City of Buenos Aires 24

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 181 people named Riga.

16 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 28 départements, most often Martinique.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they were born

Born outside France 16
Martinique 35
Ardennes 22
Nord 21
Guadeloupe 20
Moselle 11
Paris 11
Meuse 6
French Guiana 5

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

36 people named Riga live in Switzerland.

They live in 4 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Ticino.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Ticino 16
Zurich 12
Geneva 5
Vaud 3

Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.

In print

Riga in American newspapers,
1915–1917.

Newspaper page from The Hattiesburg News carrying the name Riga
The Hattiesburg News 1915-05-24
Newspaper page from The Butte Daily Post carrying the name Riga
The Butte Daily Post 1917-09-03
Newspaper page from The Butte Daily Post carrying the name Riga
The Butte Daily Post 1917-09-08

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 87,422 pages in all carry the name.

Who carried it

People named Riga,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Petrus Riga 1140–1209 · poet
  • Isaak Riga 1650–1715 · joiner
  • Jean Riga 1653–1717 · painter
  • Antonín Riga 1660–1728 · sculptor
  • Cyrillus Riga 1689–1758 · Catholic priest
  • Bernardo Javier González Riga 1901– · paleontologist

Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Riga.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Riga is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See what a volume holds
Scroll to Top