ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1406
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1406
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28 Dec 1998
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked for information about the surname <Schaible>.  Here is what we
have found.

The modern surname <Schaible> is a regional variant of <Scho"blin> or
<Scho"ble>.  The <"> represents an umlaut (two dots) over the preceding
letter.  It is recorded in Kirchheim, near Teck, as <Schaibli> or
<Scho"blin> 1476, <Scho"ublin> 1417.  This set of names has three separate
origins.  The first is the Middle High German word <schoup> "bundle of
straw", apparently used as a nickname for a scrawny, dried-up person.  The
second source is the Upper German word <schope>, a type of jacket or
jerkin, derived from the Italian <giubba>.  This word was also used as a
nickname, as in the example <Alb[recht] dictus Scho"p>, recorded 1285.  The
third source is the Middle Low German word <schope>, which seems to refer
to a ladle used by brewers, and so was a sort of occupational name for a
brewer [1].  We suspect that the most likely source for the surname
<Schaible> is a nickname meaning "scrawny, withered, dried-up, little
person", and that it was most likely used in the region of Stuttgart.


We hope this letter has been useful.  Please write us again if any part of
it has been unclear or if you have other questions.  I was assisted in
researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek.

For the Academy,


  Arval Benicoeur
  28 Dec 1998


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References

[1] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschen
Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.nn.
Schaible, Scho"ble(in), Schaub, Schope.