How common is the surname Chaves?

8,137 people in the United States had the surname Chaves in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 37,943 Americans. It ranked 4,368th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Chaves?

Rodrigo Chaves, 49th president of Costa Rica, followed by Michael Chaves.

Where is the surname Chaves most common?

Wikidata records people named Chaves in Brazil, the United States and Argentina and 1 other country.

Is the surname Chaves getting more or less common?

More common. 7,055 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,137 in 2010, up 15%.

The surname Chaves

A Galician surname, carried by 8,137 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex C120

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Chaves is more common than 97.3% of them.

Origin

Galician origin

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

One of 34 Galician surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 8,137 people named Chaves in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 37,943 Americans. That is up 15% since 2000, when the Census counted 7,055.

#4,368

rank among US surnames

8,137

people in 2010

2.8

per 100,000 Americans

+15.3%

change since 2000 (was #4,602)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,359	Tracey	8,152	37,874
#4,361	Mercier	8,149	37,888
#4,362	Oviedo	8,145	37,906
#4,363	Stinnett	8,142	37,920
#4,364	Ferrari	8,141	37,925
#4,365	Schoen	8,140	37,929
#4,366	Armour	8,139	37,934

Who is named Chaves

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

55% of people named Chaves identified as Hispanic or Latino (any race), 40% as white (not Hispanic) and 1.9% as Asian and Pacific Islander.

Hispanic or Latino (any race) 55%
White (not Hispanic) 40%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.9%
Black (not Hispanic) 1.5%
Two or more races 1.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%

Compare: most common surnames among Hispanic and Latino Americans.

Famous Chavess

10 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Rodrigo Chaves
49th president of Costa Rica, born 1961
Michael Chaves
American film director, born 1984
Richard Chaves
American actor, born 1951
Gabby Chaves
American racing driver, born 1993
Aureliano Chaves
Brazilian politician (1929–2003)
Paula Chaves
Argentine model, actress and presenter, born 1984
Waldemar Chaves de Araújo
Brazilian bishop, born 1934
Delfina Chaves
Argentinian actress, born 1996
Giovanna Chaves
Brazilian actress, singer and model, born 2001
Gabriel Pec
Brazilian footballer, born 2001

Notable Chavess come mostly from Brazil (4), the United States (3) and Argentina (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Chaves

Chaves has the Soundex code C120, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C120.

Other Galician surnames

All 34 Galician surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Chaves come from?: From Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish Chaves, a city and castle in Portugal. Doublet of Chavez.
How common is the surname Chaves?: 8,137 people in the United States had the surname Chaves in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 37,943 Americans. It ranked 4,368th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Chaves?: In the 2010 Census, 55% of people named Chaves identified as Hispanic or Latino (any race), and 40% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Chaves?: Rodrigo Chaves, 49th president of Costa Rica, followed by Michael Chaves.
Where is the surname Chaves most common?: Wikidata records people named Chaves in Brazil, the United States and Argentina and 1 other country.
Is the surname Chaves getting more or less common?: More common. 7,055 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,137 in 2010, up 15%.