The Chaves surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 8,137 people carried this name — #4,368 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 36,200 people counted. That is up 15% from 7,055 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Chaves surname
From Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish Chaves, a city and castle in Portugal.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Chaves» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 20,660 people named Chaves 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 mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
434 people named Chaves live in Switzerland.
They live in 18 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Geneva.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
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 France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 129 people named Chaves.
Most of them — 76 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 25 départements, most often Seine-Maritime.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In the Nordic population registers
22 people named Chaves is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Chaves in American newspapers,
1891–1959.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 59,949 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Chaves,
with a public archive behind them.
-
António Martins de Chaves 1390–1447 · Catholic priest -
Jerónimo de Chaves 1523–1574 · teacher -
José Francisco Chaves 1833–1904 · politician -
José Ferreira Chaves 1838–1899 · painter -
Manuel Chaves Rey 1870–1914 · writer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 214 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Chaves.
- Chavanne 321 · U.S. census
- Chavannes 245 · U.S. census
- Chavarin 2,341 · U.S. census
- Chavas 107 · U.S. census
- Chave 245 · U.S. census
- Chavel 113 · U.S. census
- Chavey 126 · U.S. census
- Chavin 116 · U.S. census
- Chay 1,212 · U.S. census
- Chea 4,492 · U.S. census
- Checa 263 · U.S. census
- Checchi 251 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Chaves 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.