When Japan formed a nation under the ritsuryo codes after the Taika Reforms, the clan names and the hereditary titles became given to Bemin (people who belonged to the Yamato Dynasty); in other words, the system of clans and hereditary system was expanded to the general public and Uji and Kabane came to a way to reveal one's social position in the hierarchy of the state.
大化の改新ののち、律令国家の形成におよぶと、古代の戸籍制度によって、氏姓はかつての部民（べみん）、つまり一般民衆にまで拡大され、すべての階層の国家身分を表示するものとなった。