In our line of Wiebe's there is some question as to whether these Wiebe's came from Germany or Holland before they went to Danzig in Prussia, then Ekaterinoslay in Russia, then Gruenthal in Canada.  Mum is Canadian but is now living in Victoria, Australia since marrying Dad.  The earliest information I have, says that Cornelius Wiebe (born 1821) married Agatha Kroeker and then our ancestor, Helena (Klassen) Wiens after his first wife died.  Our great-grandfather (Cornelius' son)  was John W.Wiebe and our grandfather (his son) was John Klassen Wiebe.  Grandpa married Ethel (Colgan) Dallman after her first husband died and they raised four children in addition to her two children.  Mum's siblings still live in Ontario, Canada, although two have died, and some of our cousins have came out to Australia to live.  There are also distant Wiebe relatives living in Winkler, Manatoba, Canada. 

According to “The Cornelius Wiebe Family” and “The Klassen Record” books, many Mennonites migrated from Holland and Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries, where they suffered religious oppression, to Polish Prussia.  In 1787 they were forced to pay taxes to the military in Prussia, so again moved to Russia, after Catherine the Great offered them territory which Russia had recently acquired through war.  This offered them free transportation, land and religious freedom.  Later rulers did not honour the promise made by Catherine the Great, so they moved to Canada, when the Minister of Agriculture (1872) advised Mr Hespeler, the Immigration Officer, to go to Russia and encourage the Mennonites to come to Manitoba.  The Klassens and Wiebes left in 1875 and helped establish the Bergthal Colony in Manitoba.  They travelled from Nikoleiski by rail and then left Hamburg, and travelled to Hull in England and across to Liverpool and then Quebec.  From there the Bergthal colony immigrated to Manitoba, by train, and then boat, then train.    

I sent away to the "The Historical Research Center" and it says that the name is of German origin.  It says that it iw classified as being of occupational origin, coming from the Middle High German word "wëber", which means "a weaver".  The variants include "Weber", "Weeber", "Wieber", "Wäber", "Wöber", "Wefer", "Wever(s)", "Wober", "Waber" and "Weber(s)". The surname Wiebe is recorded in its Latin form Textor as early as 1139.  Tidric Textor is mentioned as an inhabitant of Cologne.  There's also Johan Wiebe who married Maria Kahl 1605 in Rhineland.  J. Georg Wieber was born in Grosswenkheim, Bavaria, 1713.