The Buddha’s clan was the Shakya clan, giving rise to the title Shakyamuni.
Siddhartha Gautama is traditionally described as a member of the Shakya clan, which lived in the region around Kapilavastu in the Himalayan foothills. The title Shakyamuni combines Shakya with muni, a word meaning sage or silent one. Shakyamuni therefore means “Sage of the Shakya clan.”
The Shakyas were connected with neighboring clans and states in northern South Asia. Traditional Buddhist sources describe their political community as having its own assembly and leaders. This is one reason modern historians often use terms such as clan republic or oligarchic republic rather than assuming that Siddhartha’s father ruled as an absolute monarch.
The Shakya name appears in multiple spellings, including Sakya and Sakiya. It should not be confused with the Malla clan, associated with Kushinagar, or the Maurya dynasty, which rose to prominence much later under Emperor Ashoka.