Kyphosus cornelii was first formally described in 1944 by the Australian ichthyologist Gilbert Percy Whitley (1903-1975) with the type locality given as the Houtman Abrolhos archipelago in Western Australia. The specific name commemorates the Dutch apothecary, mutineer and murderer Jeronimus Cornelisz (1598-1691) who was shipwrecked on the merchant ship on the Houtman Abrolhos and subsequently prosecuted and executed for his murderous leadership of his fellow shipwreck survivors on the islands.
