The earlier Buddhist scriptures say that the historical Buddha was born to the warrior-caste Gautama family of the Sakya clan. Gautama, meaning "most excellent cow", should be understood in the context of cow veneration

Sakya means "one who possesses power." In the later tradition, the Buddha is given the Title "Sakyamuni", or "sage of the Sakya clan." A personal name for the Budda was not given in the earlier texts, but appears in later texts as Siddhartha, meaning "one who has achieved his goal." In early texts, Gautama's father is named Suddhodana, meaning "pure rice."

This seems appropriate since the Sakya clan resided between the Ganges plains and the foothills of the Himalayas, a region in which rice is cultivated. Suddhodana is referred to in the earlier texts as one of the council of rulers of the Sakya clan and leader of the town of Kapilvastu where the family lived. Later biographies of the Buddha claim that Suddhdana was actually a king.

Early texts report that Gautama's mother, Maya, was in the garden of Lumbini near Kapilvastu (Present NEPAL) when she gave birth to her son.

Later biographies relate the tragic story that seven days after giving birth to Gautama, Maya died. In this account, Suddhodana later married Maya's younger sister, whose name was said to be Mahaprajapati. Mahaprajapati is also said in this story to have raised Gautama along with his half-brother, Nanda.