ChavesvsChávezWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Chaves” and “Chávez” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,764
“Chaves” frequency rank
#2,969
“Chávez” frequency rank
21733
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Chaves Chávez
Definition Apellido. Apellido.

Same sound, different letters: Chaves vs Chávez

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.

6 ch
Chaves
6 ch
Chávez

Same sound, different spelling - Chaves / Chávez

This is the hard kind. Chaves and Chávez are pronounced identically ([ˈt͡ʃaβ̞es]) and both work as aname. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Chaves is recorded at frequency rank #18,764, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃaβ̞es]. Chávez is at rank #2,969, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃaβ̞es].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 21733, this pair ranks #253,586 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Chaves vs Chávez

Shared letters: cehv. Private to "Chaves": as. Private to "Chávez": .

"Chaves" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "Chávez" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Chavescahves · cchaves · chabes · chaevs · chavess · chavse · chavves · chhaves

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Chaves" and "Chávez" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same ([ˈt͡ʃaβ̞es]), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "Chaves" or "Chávez" show up more?
"Chávez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,969 in our Spanish list, against #18,764 for "Chaves". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

"Chaves" and "Chávez" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Chaves" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Chávez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #253,586 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Chaves" and "Chávez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chapel vs Chaves". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #253,586 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list