The authors agree that this surname is proper to Sardinia and derives from the place name Scano di Montiferro, a locality whose name in local pronunciation is Skànu.

E. Rossoni specifies that Scano di Montiferro is located in the Oristano area, and that its transformation into a surname is documented in Cagliari from the 13th century. As to the origin of the place name, Rossoni proposes two hypotheses: it could derive from the Phoenician root scan ("dwelling, room") or from the Sardinian term scannu ("seat, chair, step"), the latter in allusion to the orographic position of the town. The surname appears in medieval Sardinian documents, among them cartularies of various monasteries and among the signatories of the Peace of Eleonora of 1388.

E. De Felice agrees on the Sardinian origin of the surname.