Tricholoma sulphureum was first described in 1784 by the French botanist Pierre Bulliard and given the name Agaricus sulphureus, before being placed in the genus Tricholoma by German mycologist Paul Kummer in 1871. The specific epithet sulfǔrěus derived from the Latin 'of or pertaining to sulfur'.
In 1784, French botanist Pierre Bulliard first described Tricholoma sulphureum as Agaricus sulphureus. Later, in 1871, German mycologist Paul Kummer transferred it to the genus Tricholoma and noted that the specific epithet sulfǔrěus comes from Latin meaning 'of or pertaining to sulfur'.