In the early Edo period, the three families, consisting of the Tokugawa head family, along with the Owari-Tokugawa and Kishu-Tokugawa families, were sometimes called Gosanke, and the three dainagon (major counselor) families consisting of the Owari and Kishu families, with the addition of the Suruga-Tokugawa family (Tadanaga TOKUGAWA, the major counselor of Suruga, the third son of Hidetada TOKUGAWA, also called MATSUDAIRA), were also sometimes called Gosanke, although the Mito family was the family of chunagon (middle counselor) and considered lower in family status than the Owari and Kishu families.
江戸初期には、徳川将軍家である徳川宗家に尾張徳川家と紀州徳川家を加えた三家を御三家と呼ぶこともあり、また尾張家、紀州家に駿河徳川家（徳川忠長・駿河大納言、徳川秀忠の3男、松平姓とも）を加えた3つの大納言家（水戸家は中納言家）を指して御三家という場合もあり、水戸家は尾張・紀州と較べるとやや家格が劣ると見られていた。