Chaves

name

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

The verdict

“Chaves” is uncommon English (frequency #77,521 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#77,521
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A surname from Ibero-Romance.

Corpus desk

Index EN-chaves · Chaves · English

Chaves · rank #77,521 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #77,521
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH chelation

Nearest frequency peer: chelation (+2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “Chaves”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “Chaves” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Chaves
PropertyValue
HeadwordChaves
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters6
Frequency rank#77,521
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Chaves” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).Chavesfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “chelation” (#77,523), “cerium” (#77,518), “chemise” (#77,524). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “Chaves” is #77,521. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Chaves is uncommon English at frequency #77,521 among 5,599 “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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Chaves", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list