Mahāpajābatī Gotamī was the first woman to request ordination from the Buddha and to join the Saṅgha

Sangha

Sangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose...

. She was both the Buddha's maternal aunt and adoptive mother, raising him after her sister, Queen Maya (Mahāmāyā), the Buddha's birth mother, died.
An eminent Therī, Mahāprajāpatī was born at Devadaha

Devadaha

Devadaha was a township of the Sākiyans . It is near Nawalparasi District of Nepal. The Buddha stayed there during his tours and preached to the monks on various topics...

, in the family of Suppabuddha, as the younger sister of Mahāmāyā. Mahāprajāpatī was so called because, at her birth, augur

Augur

The augur was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome and Etruria. His main role was to interpret the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds: whether they are flying in groups/alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of...

s prophesied that she would have a large following.