Documented in Azzida from 1612 (Steffano Cabalau de Asida, baptismal books of San Pietro), 1616, 1653–1657 (filius Jacobi Cabalau), 1678 (Gertruda Cabalauca), 1721 (filius Georgij Cabalau), 1758 (Georgio Kumar dicti Cabalau, books of the dead of San Pietro). It is an old surname of Azzida that became extinct towards the mid-18th century. Its memory survives in the house name Kabalànovi of Azzida.

It is a surname of Romance origin derived from the word cavallaio, a variant of cavallaro (cf. the analogous forms Massaio/Massaro); the noun cavallaro derives from the Late Latin caballarius and is a trade name. Cavalla(i)o —transformed in Azzida into Cabalau— originally designated a keeper, merchant or driver of horses, also a messenger or courier on horseback (cf. Emidio De Felice, Dizionario dei cognomi italiani, Milan 1978). The equivalent Slovene surname is Konjar, documented in Biacis towards the mid-17th century. In the Natisone valleys there were the house names Kabalaukni (Stupizza and Pulfero), whose families dealt with horses: one raised draught horses and the other managed a station for carters. In Lasiz there is the house name Kabalaučiči, and kabalauka is a local variety of apple.