In the first edition of Genera Palmarum (1987), Natalie Uhl and John Dransfield placed the genus Cryosophila in subfamily Coryphoideae, tribe Corypheae and subtribe Thrinacinae Subsequent phylogenetic analyses showed that the Old World and New World members of Thrinacinae are not closely related. As a consequence, Cryosophila and related genera were places in their own tribe, Cryosophileae. Within this tribe, Cryosophila appears to be most closely related to the genus Schippia.
