An Irish, Scottish and English surname, Rowland comes from the Old Norse terms ‘ra’ and ‘lundr’ which refer to a woody grove and a renown piece of land. The spelling variations for Rowland include Rolan, Rowlands, Roland, Rolland and Rowlandson. The Irish spelling for Rowland is O’Rothlian. The French and German spelling of Rowland would be Roland. In northern England many Rowland families live in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham and Cheshire. There are large populations of Rowland in the city of London and nearby Essex, Surrey and Sussex. In Wales the Glamorgan county has many with the Rowland name. In Scotland the Rowland families originated in the Ayrshire region. From the Rowland name spread into Lanarkshire, Stirlingshire, Midlothian, East Lothian, Roxburghshire, Orkney Island and Inverness-shire. Within the United States the Rowland families settled in Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Connecticut and Georgia. Famous: Bruce Rowland (music composer from Australia), Kelly Rowland (actress, model, dancer and singer), Dennis Rowland (singer), Rich Rowland (professional baseball player), Gilbert Rowland (famous Scottish harpsichordist), Laura John Rowland (writer), Rodney Rowland (actor), Michael Rowland (horse racing jockey), Jeff Rowland (professional soccer player) and John A. Rowland (19th century pioneer to the California region of San Gabriel Valley with the community of Rowland Heights, CA named after him).