 Although Cuvier did not propose a proper binomial name, his colleague Achille Valenciennes interpreted it as such in 1822 when he described another specimen of the same species in detail, calling it "Zygaena Blochii nobis" and attributing the name to Cuvier.In 1862, Theodore Gill placed the winghead shark in its own genus "Eusphyra", derived from the Greek "eu" ("good") and "sphyra" ("hammer").However, subsequent authors did not accept "Eusphyra" and preferred to keep this species with the other hammerheads in the genus "Sphyrna".