Frequency: (652)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. French: topographic name for someone who lived in a sandy place, from sable ‘sand’.
2. French (Sablé): habitational name from a place so called in Sarthe.
3. Dutch and North German: metonymic occupational name for a furrier, from sabel ‘sable’, ‘black fur’.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
