Introduction. Tuvan clan history (and that of certain clan clusters) dates back to most ancient times and is characterized by long and intertwined paths of formation and development. So, it had — and still does — attracted the attention of researchers representing various fields of science. However, there have been no fundamental works involving both historical, ethnographic, and anthropological insights into Tuvan clans. Goals. The article attempts a historical investigation into origins of Tuvan clans and particularly the Mongush one. Materials and methods. The paper focuses on scientific works by Tsarist and Soviet scientists, analyzes field data collected by the authors. The study employs the principle of historicism which makes it possible to consider the Mongush tribal group in retrospective and trace its development. The method of comparative typology (the Mongush of Tuva and the Mungush of Kyrgyzstan) supplemented with that of participant observation prove most efficient. In terms of historical science, events and phenomena are considered through temporal sequences, changes of periods and development stages. Results. The authors’ findings reveal the Mongush clan has a number of branches, while scrupulous insights into writings of earlier researchers have yielded a clarified etymology of the word mongush and certain demographic data on the group.