I have always heard that Jews from the Ashkenazi tribe are among the most intelligent people walking the earth, or they have been so. I think I recall radio talker Michael Savage saying he is descended from that lineage.
I would find that easy to believe. He’s vain and grouchy, but nevertheless, he’s very bright.
The name merely means “German Jews” — the roots go back to ancient Israel, a consequence of the “Lost Tribes” exiled to the frontiers of the Assyrian Empire.
Constant pogroms killed off the slower members of “the tribe”