According to "Taiheiki", Masaoki WADA was the same family as the Kusunoki clan, but it is also possible that he was actually from the Mikita (Nigita) clan (the Onakatomi clan) who was the gokenin (an immediate vassal of the shogunate in the Kamakura and Muromachi through Edo periods) of Izumi Province (it is possible that he became the same family through marital relation).
『太平記』などは和田正興を楠木氏と同族とするが、実際は和泉国の御家人・和田（みきた・にぎた）氏（大中臣氏）の出であったとも考えられる（婚姻関係などにより同族化した可能性はある）。