Cabello
A Spanish surname from cabello, meaning “hair,” likely first used as a nickname for someone with notable hair or a hairy appearance.
The #6,358 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 57,623 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Cabello comes from Spanish cabello, the everyday word for “hair.” In surname use, it was probably first applied as a nickname, most likely to someone with striking, abundant, or perhaps unusual hair, or more generally a hairy appearance. Some 19th-century writers also suggested related regional forms and older medieval nicknames, but the straightforward “hair” explanation is the clearest and best supported.
History
The name is found in medieval Iberian records, and the excerpts suggest early use in Galicia by the 11th century and in Castilian areas by the 13th century. Over time it became a normal hereditary surname and spread widely across the Spanish-speaking world. The exact pathway may vary by family, and some older authors speculated about regional or related forms, so not every Cabello family will share the same origin story.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older Spanish, cabello was a very natural source for nicknames, since it simply named a visible personal feature that could easily become hereditary as a surname.
From the historical record
“o contribucion con que sirve cada ganado. Cabello. El pelo que nace en la cabeza. Especie de ner- _wio que tienen lus carneros en la aguja. - Cabezalero, Testamentario. Cabeza. La parte superior del cuerpo que está sobre el”
— Diccionario de los apellidosNotable people named Cabello
- Camila Cabello (b. 1997)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.