The Yamana clan is descended from the renowned Nitta family; its progenitor was MINAMOTO no Yoshikuni, the son of MINAMOTO no Yoshiie, who was the Chinju-fu shogun (Commander-in-Chief of the Defense of the North) and the head of the Kawachi-Genji (Minamoto clan), a family of the Seiwa-Genji (Minamoto clan).
家系は清和源氏の河内源氏の棟梁鎮守府将軍源義家の子源義国を祖とする名門・新田氏の一門。