This interesting surname with variant spellings Scotland, Scolland, Scollan, etc. is derived from the rare Norman personal name Escotland, composed of the ethnic name "Scot" plus "land" meaning "territory". It may also be a locational name from Scotland near Loch Leven in Kinross. The personal name dates back to the late 11th Century and recordings include Scotlandus (1081), Kent, "Feudal Documents from the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, London, Scollandus (1086), "The Domesday Book" and Gaufridus filius Scollandi (1130), "The Pipe Rolls of Hampshire. The first recording of the surname appears in the mid 12th Century, (see below). One Harriet Scollen married Thomas Mills on March 2nd 1835, at St. Anne Soho, Westminster. Ellen, daughter of John and Anne Scollan, was christened on March 8th 1867, in Rowan, County Leitrim, and Patrick Scollan married Nancy Hogan on January 7th 1868, in Termonmaguirk, County Tyrone. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Escoland, which was dated 1155, in the Feodarium Prioratus Dunelmen, during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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