Chaves

name

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"chaves" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Chaves” is uncommon English (frequency #77,521 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#77,521
frequency rank, English
43,570
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A surname from Ibero-Romance.

Key facts for Chaves
PropertyValue
HeadwordChaves
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters6
Frequency rank#77,521
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Chaves” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). Chaves lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Chaves is uncommon English at frequency #77,521 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Chaves, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish Chaves, a city and castle in Portugal. Doublet of Chavez. The correct English form is Chaves, spelled C-H-A-V-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A surname from Ibero-Romance.
  2. 2
    A surname from Ibero-Romance.
  3. 3
    A surname from Ibero-Romance.
  4. 4
    A city and municipality in Vila Real district, Portugal.
  5. 5
    A municipality of Pará, Brazil.
  6. 6
    Ellipsis of Chaves County: a county of New Mexico, United States.

Etymology

From Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish Chaves, a city and castle in Portugal. Doublet of Chavez.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Chaves"?
"Chaves" is spelled C-H-A-V-E-S.
What does "Chaves" mean?
As a proper noun, "Chaves" means: A surname from Ibero-Romance.
What is the origin of the word "Chaves"?
From Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish Chaves, a city and castle in Portugal. Doublet of Chavez. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “Chaves”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-H-A-V-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list