First Name
140
in the U.S.
since 1880
Last Name
10k
in the U.S.
in 2010
Girls
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On This Page
  1. Related Names
  2. Pronunciation
  3. Meanings and Origins
  4. Notable Persons With the Last Name Cable
  5. Regional Popularity
  6. Ethnicity Distribution
  7. Fun Facts
  8. What Cables Have Visited This Page?
  9. Name Poster

How to Pronounce Cable

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Meaning and Origin

What does the name Cable mean? Find out below.

Origin and Meaning of Cable

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Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
noun Ca"ble
Senses
  1. A large, strong rope or chain, of considerable length, used to retain a vessel at anchor, and for other purposes. It is made of hemp, of steel wire, or of iron links.
  2. A rope of steel wire, or copper wire, usually covered with some protecting or insulating substance; as, the cable of a suspension bridge; a telegraphic cable .
  3. [Arch] A molding, shaft of a column, or any other member of convex, rounded section, made to resemble the spiral twist of a rope; -- called also cable molding.

Etymology: F. câble, LL. capulum caplum, a rope, fr. L. capere to take; cf. D., Dan., & G. kabel, from the French. See Capable

verb Ca"ble
Senses
  1. To fasten with a cable.
  2. [Arch] To ornament with cabling. See Cabling.
verb Ca"ble
To telegraph by a submarine cable
Other Dictionary Sources
  1. A very strong thick rope made of twisted hemp or steel wire
  2. A television system that transmits over cables
    Synonyms: cable system, cable television, and cable television service
  3. A conductor for transmitting electrical or optical signals or electric power
    Synonyms: line and transmission line
  4. A telegram sent abroad
    Synonyms: cablegram and overseas telegram
  5. Television that is transmitted over cable directly to the receiver
    Synonyms: cable television
  6. A nautical unit of depth
    Synonyms: cable length and cable's length
  7. Send cables, wires, or telegrams
    Synonyms: telegraph and wire
  8. Fasten with a cable ("cable trees")
Wiktionary

Recorded since c.1205, a borrowing from Old Northern French cable, from Late Latin capulum (“lasso, rope, halter”), from Latin capiō (“to take, seize”).

  1. (material) A long object used to make a physical connection.
    1. A strong, large-diameter wire or rope, or something resembling such a rope.
    2. An assembly of two or more cable-laid ropes.
    3. An assembly of two or more wires, used for electrical power or data circuits; one or more and/or the whole may be insulated.
    4. (nautical) A strong rope or chain used to moor or anchor a ship.
  2. (communications) A system for transmitting television or Internet services over a network of coaxial or fibreoptic cables.
    I tried to watch the movie last night but my was out.
    1. Short for cable television, broadcast over the above network, not by antenna.
  3. A telegram, notably when sent by (submarine) telegraph cable.
  4. (nautical) A unit of length equal to one tenth of a nautical mile.
  5. (unit, chiefly nautical) 100 fathoms, 600 imperial feet, approximately 185 m.
  6. (finance) The currency pair British Pound against United States Dollar.
  7. (architecture) A moulding, shaft of a column, or any other member of convex, rounded section, made to resemble the spiral twist of a rope.

cable was also found in the following language(s): Catalan and Spanish

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Notable Persons With the Last Name Cable

Sir Vince Cable

Sir Vince Cable is a for Twickenham, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Skills, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Liberal Democrats Treasury Spokesperson, Liberal Democrats Trade Spokesperson, Member of Parliament, forTwickenha. He holds the title Cable's voice. Vince was born on May 9th, 1943 in York.

Popularity:
Stuart Cable

Stuart Cable was an alternative rock, grunge, britpop, and hard rock musician. He was most prominent from 1992 to 2010. Stuart was born on May 19th, 1970 in Aberdare, WalesUnited Kingdom. He left this life on June 7th, 2010.

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Tom Cable

Tom was born on November 26th, 1964 in Merced, California. Tom is also known as Cable, Thomas Lee, and Jr..

Popularity:
Bill Cable

Bill Cable was a model, actor, and film stuntman. His most notable accomplishments were from 1970 to 1996. Bill was given the name William Laurence Cumpanas on May 2nd, 1946 in Gary, Indiana. He breathed his last breath on March 7th, 1998.

Popularity:
Barry Cable

Barry was born on September 22nd, 1943 in Narrogin, Western Australia.

Popularity:
Matthew Joseph Cable

Popularity:
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Where is the name Cable popular?

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Popularity of Cable as a last name

The map shows the absolute popularity of the name Cable as a last name in each of the states. See other popular names in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, or Ohio.

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Common first names for Cable

Ethnicity Distribution

Ethnicity Cable U.S.
█  White 91.47% 64.26%
█  African American 2.72% 11.96%
█  Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander 0.73% 4.85%
█  American Indian and Alaska Native 1.11% 0.69%
█  Two or More Ethnicities 1.74% 1.76%
█  Hispanic or Latino 2.22% 16.26%

Of Last Name Cable

People with the last name Cable are most frequently White

Entire United States

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Fun Facts about the name Cable

  • How Popular is the name Cable? Cable is the 31,756th most popular name of all time. As a last name Cable was the 3,716th most popular name in 2010.
  • How many people with the first name Cable have been born in the United States? From 1880 to 2017, the Social Security Administration has recorded 140 babies born with the first name Cable in the United States. That's more than enough people named Cable to occupy the territory of Pitcairn Islands (United Kingdom) with an estimated population of 66 (as of July 1, 2008).
  • What year were 5 or more babies first named Cable? The name was first given to 5 or more babies in the year 1972 when it was given as a first name to 5 new born babies.
  • When was Cable first recorded in the United States? The oldest recorded birth by the Social Security Administration for the first name Cable is Thursday, February 14th, 1884.
  • What year had the most people named Cable born? The highest recorded use of the first name Cable was in 1976 with a total of 11 babies.
  • Weird things about the name Cable: Your name in reverse order is Elbac. A random rearrangement of the letters in your name (anagram) will give Acleb. How do you pronounce that?
  • How many people have the last name Cable? In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau surveyed 9,545 people with the last name Cable.
  • How likely are you to meet someone with the last name of Cable? If you manage to meet 100,000 people in your life, chances are that 3 of them will have Cable as their last name.
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What Cables Have Visited This Page?

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Name poster for Cable

Name poster for Cable(click to save the high quality version)

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All Name Lists

  • Sources:
  • U.S. Census Bureau: Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000 (public domain).
  • U.S. Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names, Death Master File (public domain).
  • 1913 Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary via the Collaborative International Dictionary of English (License)
  • Other Dictionary Sources: WordNet 3.1 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University (License).
  • Wiktionary: Titles and License.
  • Notable persons via Wikipedia: Titles and License. Click each image for the attribution information.