In that case, the idea of a House rather than a Clan fits it better. "Clans" have a stronger sense of family and genetics/lineage, a House is more flexible.
odd, my connotations are the complete opposite. Clans are a closely knit tribe and houses are an extended family. Ignoring those; I'd have clans for dwarves, houses for humans, tribes for orcs, castes for kobalds, and I've got no idea what to use for elves.
See, in Scotland I think the idea of family was stronger within a sept of a major clan like, say, the MacDonalds of Glencoe whilst the MacDonalds as a whole would not have a very strong sense of family because the clan was so large. These clansmen were very conscious of their genetic links to one another. There were septs within clans which could be adopted from other clans, such as the MacCoshes (I think, I'm probably incredibly wrong) who joined the Gordons but septs of clans were like extended families in many ways.
I just thought that the idea of a House was quite ambiguous because it could imply a "house" in the literal sense, like a family or people who live together, or it could imply a group of nobles/dwarves traditionally bound by familial links but still open to outsiders. If you think about it, you don't have to be related to the occupants of a house to live in one with a family.
I suppose they both mean very similar things. House seems more Dwarven though, the word "clan" to me would imply something much more tribal and... I don't want to say barbaric or savage or whatever, but you get the picture. I think of a chieftan with subjects who live on his land and pay tribute to him and fight his battles.