Schwab Family History

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name for someone from Swabia (German Schwaben) from Middle High German Swāp German Schwabe ‘Swabian’. The region takes its name from an ancient Germanic tribe recorded from the 1st century BC in the Latin form Suebi or Suevi of uncertain origin; it was an independent duchy from the 10th century until 1313 when the territory was broken up.

This surname is also found in France (Alsace and Lorraine), the Netherlands, and some other European countries (compare 2 below). Germanized form of Czech, Slovak, Rusyn (from Slovakia), Slovenian, and Croatian Šváb or Švab (see Svab).