The first headquarters of the Metropolitan police was at 4 Whitehall Place in London (in 1829). The back entrance of this building, which was the way members of the public came in if they wanted to see anyone working in the headquarters, was in a street called Great Scotland Yard.

There are different theories as to where this name came from, but the most likely is that there is an old connection with the Scottish Kings, who used to stay in Whitehall Palace nearby when they visited London. Other streets in the area have names connected with the north of Britain as well, such as Northumberland Avenue.

Wherever the original name came from, the 'Great' was eventually dropped and the police HQ became known by the name of that street by which the public entered the building. When they moved to Broadway in 1967 the name stayed, only changing to 'New Scotland Yard'.