View Message

Cable is an English surname, another form of Cabell. According to Reaney & Wilson's A Dictionary of English Surnames, these go back either to an Old English name, Cealdbald, or are "metonymic" occupational surnames for someone who made cables or ropes, or who was a horseman (cabal being a Norman French word for "horse".)

---

I have sent an e-mail to Edmund Penney, one of the screenwriters of the film, through his website, asking him to tell if he remembers why that name was chosen for the character. If I get an answer, I'll pass it on.

---

By the way, on the marriage certificate of my Aunt Sadie and Uncle Russell from Virginia in the early 20th century, my uncle's father's first name is listed as "Cable". In actuality, that man's name was Gabriel, but the clerk who filled out the marriage certificate heard my uncle saying "Cable" when he gave the information about his parents' names. That's a good example of why one needs to be careful in assuming that a certain name was really in use in a particular time and place just from finding it in one public record! :)

This message was edited 9/15/2006, 6:48 PM