The fawn-breasted waxbill was formally described in 1863 by the German explorer and ornithologist Theodor von Heuglin from a specimen collected on the middle course of the Bahr el Ghazal River in South Sudan.
The fawn-breasted waxbill was officially recognized in 1863 by the German explorer and ornithologist Theodor von Heuglin, who discovered it from a specimen gathered along the middle course of the Bahr el Ghazal River in South Sudan.