This squirrel was first described in 1862 by the English zoologist John Edward Gray, the type specimen being collected from above sea level on Mount Cameroon. He gave it the name Sciurus isabella, the specific epithet isabella honouring Isabel Burton, the wife of the explorer and diplomat Sir Richard Burton who was at that time the British consul in Fernando Po. The species was later combined into the genus Funisciurus, giving the binomial name its currently accepted form, Funisciurus isabella.