"Sinornithoides youngi", the type species, was named and described in 1993/1994 by Dale Russell and Dong Zhiming based on this fossil specimen from the Lower Cretaceous Ejinhoro Formation.The generic name is derived from Latin "Sinae", "Chinese", and Greek ὄρνις, "ornis", "bird", en ~ειδής, "~eides", a suffix meaning "~like", in reference to the bird-like build.