The family was founded when Tomotaka IWAKURA, the forth son of Haremichi KOGA, was allowed to have a branch and named the branch Iwakura after his territory in the village of Iwakura in the northern Kyoto during the Genwa (Japan) era (1615-1642) in the early Edo period.
江戸時代初期の元和(日本)（1615年‐1624年）年間に久我晴通の四男岩倉具堯が分家を許され、京都洛北の岩倉村の所領にちなみに岩倉を家名としたのにはじまる。