Although one of the aims of the Imperial court's demotion of their family members to their subjects by giving them the surname of Minamoto was to allow them to be the subsidiary of the Imperial Family as upper class nobles, in fact only a few of them kept their status for more than three generations, while many others took regional posts as middle classes and later became samurai, or earned a sparse living as middle and lower classes in the center.
また、朝廷が皇族を臣籍降下させ源氏とした背景としては、上級貴族として皇室の藩塀とすることという理由もあったが、実際には3代目以降も上級貴族であり続けた例はほとんどなく、大半は受領階級として地方へ赴任しそこで土着して武士化するか、中央で中下級貴族として細々と生き延びた。