Romulan society is ordered around a system of house-clans. A house-clan, or hfihar, is an extended family based on matrilineal descent. Men leave their birth clan when they marry and become part of their wife's clan.

The head of a hfihar, or hru'hfirh, is almost always a woman. The title passes from mother to the daughter or, if there is no daughter, to the closest female relative. On rare occasions, a male may become hru'hfirh. In such cases, the male would not leave the family when married, and instead their wife would switch clans.

House-clans may be large in membership or may be very small, and membership can be fluid. A member of one clan can be adopted into another through invitation. This is often done for political or economic purposes. An entire disaffected branch of one clan may even switch house-clans if they find it to their advantage, or they may form their own clan.

To be banished from a house-clan is an unthinkable situation for most Romulans. It would leave them without any social support, and in a culture that values social acceptance and service above everything else, that is tantamount to a death sentence.

Important House-clans

The prefix s' is the singular genitive affix for Proper Names (see Nouns) and has the meaning "of the (clan)" or "belonging to the (clan)." House-clan names are always singular.