Frequency: (555)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Catalan: nickname for a bald man, equivalent to Spanish Cabello.
2. English: variant spelling of Cable.
3. Possibly a respelling of German Göbel (see Goebel) or Kabel.
FOREBEARS: William Cabell, of Bugley near Warminster, in Wiltshire, England, trained in surgery and migrated to Virginia in the 18th century. The emigrant ancestor of a distinguished VA family, he married in 1726 and by 1741 had carried settlements 50 miles westward. As a pioneer during VA's westward push, the surgeon had a private hospital from which he handed out medicines and wooden legs crafted by his artisans.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
