Find out how popular the last name Cable is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Cable.

Cable, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Cable surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cable in America

Cable is the 3716th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cable surname appeared 9,545 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Cable.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cable to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Cable

The surname Cable has its origins in the Middle English word 'cabil', which means a rope or cord. It is derived from the Old French 'cable' or the Late Latin 'capulum', meaning the same. The name likely originated as an occupational surname for a rope or cable maker.

The earliest recorded instances of the Cable surname date back to the late 12th century in England. One of the earliest known bearers was John Cable, who was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire in 1195. The name also appears in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, where a William Cable is mentioned in Oxfordshire.

During the Middle Ages, the Cable surname was found primarily in the southern and western counties of England, including Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, and Devon. This distribution suggests that the name may have originated in these regions, where the rope and cable-making trade was prevalent.

In the 16th century, the Cable surname appeared in various spellings, such as Cabyll, Cabill, and Cabell. The variant spelling Cabell was particularly common in the Isle of Wight and Hampshire. One notable bearer of this spelling was William Cabell (1605-1658), an English landowner and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Boston, Lincolnshire.

Another notable figure with the Cable surname was Sir John Cable (c. 1617-1683), an English merchant and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1681-1682. He was a prominent figure in the City of London during the latter part of the 17th century.

In the 18th century, the Cable surname spread across England and into other parts of the British Isles. George Cable (1744-1822) was an English clergyman and botanist who served as the Vicar of Allerton in Liverpool and made significant contributions to the study of British flora.

As the British Empire expanded, the Cable surname travelled to various parts of the world. One notable bearer was Benjamin Cable (1816-1886), an American politician and lawyer who served as the 14th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio from 1855 to 1857.

Other notable individuals with the Cable surname include George Washington Cable (1844-1925), an American novelist and essayist known for his works portraying the Creole culture of New Orleans, and Verne Cable (1889-1962), an American baseball player who played for the Boston Red Sox in the early 20th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cable

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Cable.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Cable was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Cable has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Cable was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Cable, please contact us.

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