 The purple-crowned lorikeet was described by Lionel Dietrichsen in 1837 as "Trichoglossus porphyrocephalus".His first description in 1832 used the name "Psittacus purpureus", a name preoccupied by a description of another species.The specific epithet derived from the Ancient Greek words "porphuros" "purple" and "kephalē" "head".