[4] Isaac Wake, diplomat of King James VI and I in Bern, suggested in 1625 that the name originated in Sweden, among the Suecia, "who in the time of king [sic] Sigebert made a transmigration out of Suecia and planted themselves in this country".

[6] Brandstetter (1871) is critical of Gatschet's suggestion and prefers derivation from an Alemannic personal name in Svid- as it were presenting a scholarly defense of the Suito of the founding legend.

[7] The etymology proposed for the Schweizerisches Idiotikon by Hubschmied (1929) derives the name from a Gallo-Roman *(alpes) suētas, from the Gaulish or Latin word for "pig", via a Romance *suēdes "(mountain, pasture) of pigs" yielding an Alemannic Swītes.

Hubschmied distanced himself from this opinion in 1961, preferring an unspecified pre-Roman (or "Etruscan") source.

Sonderegger (1966) revisits Gatschet's suedan "slash-and-burn" proposal, but now claims derivation from a cognate Celtic root, *sveit-, Proto-Celtic *sveitos with a meaning of "clearing" or similar, giving Gaulish *Svētos (the long vowel as in Rēnos "Rhine"), Gallo-Romance *Svēdus, -is, and finally Swītes in Old High German by the 8th century.

While a few Roman era coins have been found in Schwyz, the earliest evidence of a settlement comes from the 8th century.

The fire of 1642, which destroyed 47 buildings in the center of the village, allowed the town to be totally rebuilt.

A new, larger town square with major roads radiating out was built in front of the new church and the new city hall.

[9] Besides the town of Schwyz, the municipality includes the settlements of Ibach, Seewen and Rickenbach.

Of the rest of the land, 8.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (5.8%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

[11] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules, a Confederate cross couped in the hoist argent.

[11] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (12,441 or 90.1%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (378 or 2.7%) and Italian is the third (273 or 2.0%).

The entire old city of Schwyz is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

In the tertiary sector; 1,357 or 24.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 306 or 5.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 272 or 4.8% were in a hotel or restaurant, 136 or 2.4% were in the information industry, 733 or 13.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 427 or 7.6% were technical professionals or scientists, 260 or 4.6% were in education and 1,053 or 18.7% were in health care.

[11] From the 2000 census[update], 11,269 or 81.6% were Roman Catholic, while 675 or 4.9% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

The first Latin school in Schwyz opened in 1627 in the former Capuchin monastery of St. Josef im Loo.

In 1847, Federal troops marched into Schwyz to suppress the Catholic Sonderbund and forced the Jesuits to flee.

It was reopened in 1855 under the Capuchin Father Theodosius Florentini and in the following year began teaching students.

The wettest month is August during which time Schwyz receives an average of 199 mm (7.8 in) of precipitation.

A minor road crosses the Ibergeregg Pass to Oberiberg, providing an alternative route to Einsiedeln.

If that proposal had come to fruition, the Schwyz town centre would have had a railway station – initially on the Kollegi football field, and later in Steisteg.

From 6 October 1900 to 14 December 1963, the Schwyzer Strassenbahnen linked the Schwyz railway station with the town centre.

The Rotenfluebahn links Rickenbach with the summit of the Rotenfluh mountain, which is, in summer, a popular vantage point over the Lake Lucerne region, and, in winter, a ski area.