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Chavez is one of the most popular Portuguese and Spanish surnames in the world. It means “keys” and also refers to a town located in Portugal. Currently, it is a frequent surname in Spain, Latin America and the United States.
Meaning of the name Chavez
The surname Chávez is the Spanish variant of the Portuguese surname Chaves . Its meaning can be descriptive, occupational or toponymic, that is, it can describe a person or object, a profession or a place.
The first meaning is “keys”, since it derives from the Latin word clavis , from which the words “key” and “key” come. Also, with this name people who made keys were called. Therefore, that could be its second meaning.
The third meaning of Chávez is related to a town in Tras-os-Montes, Portugal, which is called Chaves. It is possible that this surname was also used to name someone who lived in or near that place.
Origin of the name Chavez
The origin of this surname is Portuguese and possibly also Roman and Jewish. In addition, it is a quite old surname in Spain.
It is believed to come from the times of the Roman Emperor Titus Flavius Vespasian, who used to go to the hot springs in the Tras-os-Montes region of Portugal, around the middle of the 1st century AD. C. Due to his frequent visits, this site became known as Aquiis Flaviis, “Flavio’s hot springs”. In this way, over time, Aquiis Flaviis was shortened to Flaviis . People began to use this name and in this way, over the years, it became a toponymic surname that referred to the people of that place. Subsequently, the surname Flaviis was transformed into Chaviis and later Chaves .
The origin of this surname in Spain is also related to the town of Chaves, Portugal, a few centuries later. The oldest references date back to the year 1160, when the brothers Garci and Rui López participated in the conquest of said town. King Alfonso Enríquez of Portugal commissioned them to populate it. In this way, they adopted the name of Chaves as their last name and transmitted it to their descendants.
Once in Spain, the Chaves surname changed its spelling, becoming Chávez, whose ending is similar to other popular Spanish surnames, such as González or Martínez. The oldest record of the surname with this spelling dates from the 18th century, when the kings of Spain rewarded Manuel Leonardo Chávez for his services to the crown.
During the conquest of America, the Chaves surname spread throughout the Spanish and Portuguese domain territories. In fact, one of the people who captured the Inca chief Atahualpa was called Rodrigo de Chaves. Between 1535 and 1540, Hernando Chaves, the brothers Alfonso and Gómez de Chaves Figueroa and other people who carried this surname were in charge of different groups of aborigines in Peru and the Amazon. After some time, the surname Chaves also became Chávez in the Americas.
Another possible meaning and origin of this surname is associated with the Jewish population during the period of the Inquisition in Europe beginning in the 12th century AD. C. Faced with the obligation to convert to Christianity, many of them kept a trace of their Jewish heritage in their surnames. Taking this into account, Chávez or Chaves could come from Shaves , which is another way of saying Shabbat , which in turn means “Saturday”. Likewise, it may come from the Yiddish term Shabbes , which also means Shabbat or “Saturday”.
Curious facts about the last name Chávez
In addition to the particularities of its origin and meanings, there are other interesting facts about the Chávez surname:
- Chávez is the 335th most common last name in the world, with more than a million and a half people using this last name.
- It is also the 22nd most common Hispanic surname.
- In Spain, the Chávez surname is most popular in Andalusia, Extremadura and the Canary Islands.
- The largest number of people with the last name Chávez live in Mexico, Peru and Panama.
- This surname occupies the 19th position of most common surnames in Bolivia; the 34th in Guatemala; the 36th in El Salvador; the 42nd in Ecuador; the 69th in Honduras; and 89th in Nicaragua and Paraguay.
- The Chávez surname is also among the 100 most common surnames in Argentina and is popular mainly in the Northwest and Gran Chaco regions.
- In the United States, Chávez is one of the 150 most popular surnames, and it is quite common in the State of New Mexico.
- This surname can also appear alternatively written as: Chavez, Chaves, Chabes, Chàvez, Chavéz, Chavèz, Chãvez, Chaivez, Chauvez, Schavez or Shafis.
Celebrities with the last name Chavez
Famous people with the last name Chavez include:
- Julio César Chávez: former Mexican boxer.
- Christian Chávez: Mexican actor and singer.
- Kharla Chávez: Ecuadorian politician.
- Raúl Chávez: Venezuelan baseball player.
- Hugo Chávez: former president of Venezuela
- César Chávez: American activist.
- Federico Chávez: former president of Paraguay.
- Martin Chávez: mayor of Albuquerque, United States.
- Armando Neyra Chávez: Mexican politician.
- Linda Chávez: American writer.
Genealogy and resources
On the web there are numerous resources to find data and records of ancestors, the origin of a surname and more information on genealogy. Some of the tools available on the Chávez surname:
- Family Tree DNA: on this page there are data about the Chávez surname and, in particular, family trees based on DNA tests.
- Forebears: This site contains statistical data on the Chavez surname and other popular Hispanic surnames.
- Geneanet: is another of the online resources to find other people with the last name Chávez.
Sources
- Sanchez, S.; Talavera, JM The meaning of surnames. (1999). Spain. Editorial Perea.
- Forebears. Last name Chavez . Names and genealogy. Forebears.io/en. Available here .
- Chilean surnames. Last name: Chavez . Available here .
- Family History Institute. Last name Chavez . family heraldry. Available here .
- Family Tree DNA. Testing for ancestry and genealogy . Familytreedna.com. Available here .
- Geneanet. Last name: Chavez . Geneanet.org. Available here .
