 The genus was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in his "Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae".He described "Cyrtostylis reniformis" at the same time, making it the type species.The name "Cyrtostylis" is derived from the Greek words "cyrtos" meaning 'curved' and "stylos", 'pertaining to the style', referring to the curved column found in all members of this genus.