The SHANKLAND One-Name Study is run on very informal lines but is a lively international group of people with a shared interest in the name.
We are always pleased to receive enquiries or additional information about Shanklands, and maintain a growing database of Shankland data to enable us to help as many people as we can to trace their Shankland ancestry..
SHANKLIN is the most common variant. It is generally less common than SHANKLAND, except in the USA where it occurs much more frequently than SHANKLAND. There are also a few instances of SHANKLYN, especially in Wales.
The references to SHANKILAND are historical and the name settled down without the "i". SHANKLAN, SHANKLEN, etc., are probably 'deviants' - i.e. misspellings that were never in actual use.
The name has spread all over the world and we are in touch with SHANKLANDs in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Europe. In Britain it is most common in south-west Scotland, followed by south Wales and here and there in Northern Ireland; English Shanklands appear (like us) to trace their lines back to Scotland or Wales within a few generations.
We have a DNA project at Family Tree DNA, which is managed by John N Shankland, another member of the Shankland One-Name Group.
Visit also our Shankland One-Name Group pages.