Among the Chuvash believers, the majority are Eastern Orthodox Christians although a minority follow Vattisen Yaly or Sunni Islam.

Another theory is that the word is derived from the Tabghach, an early medieval Xianbei clan and founders of the Northern Wei dynasty in China.

The Old Turkic name Tabghach (Tuoba in Mandarin) was used by some Inner Asian peoples to refer to China long after this dynasty.

Gerard Clauson has shown that through regular sound changes, the clan name Tabghach may have transformed to the ethnonym Chuvash.

Some scholars suggest Hunnish had strong ties with Bulgar and to modern Chuvash[17] and refer to this extended grouping as separate Hunno-Bulgar languages.

[18][19] However, such speculations are not based on proper linguistic evidence, since the language of the Huns is almost unknown except for a few attested words and personal names.

[27] The first scientific fieldwork description of Chuvash, by August Ahlqvist in 1856, allowed researchers to establish its proper affiliation.

[35][36] Although Chuvash is taught at schools and sometimes used in the media, it is considered endangered by the UNESCO,[37][38] since Russian dominates in most spheres of life and few children learning the language are likely to become active users.

Throughout history, they have experienced significant infusion and influence, not only from Russian and other Turkic peoples but also from neighboring Uralic tribes with whom they were persistently and mistakenly identified for centuries.

Sabirs led incursions into Transcaucasia in the late-400s/early-500s, but quickly began serving as soldiers and mercenaries during the Byzantine–Sasanian Wars on both sides.

The adoption of Islam in the early tenth century in Volga Bulgaria led to most of its people embracing that religion.

The modern name "Chuvash" began to appear in records starting from the sixteenth century from Russian and other foreign sources.

Many Chuvash who traditionally engaged in agriculture were forced to become bonded laborers in the timber industry or to work in barges due to growing poverty.

[47] [need quotation to verify] After conversion, Russian Historian Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev personally visited the lands of Volga Bulgaria and wrote in 1768 that Bulgars also migrated to Bashkortostan and North of Kazan (i.e. modern-day Chuvashia).

Now, after receiving baptism, very few of them remain, because many, not wanting to be baptized, moved to the Bashkirs and settled in other counties.The 18th and 19th centuries saw the revival of Chuvash culture and the publication of many educational, literary, and linguistic works, along with the establishment of schools and other programs.

[47][need quotation to verify] Physical anthropologists using the racial frameworks of the early 20th century saw the Chuvash as a mixed Finno-Ugric and Turkic people.

[59] Many people also use the Russian and Tatar languages, spoken in Chuvashia and nearby regions along the middle course of the Volga River, in the central part of European Russia.