Cuvier named it "Ziphius cavirostris". The specific name comes from the Latin "cavus" for "hollow" or "concave". This refers to the deep hollow in the skull, a diagnostic trait of the species. Cuvier believed it was an extinct species. In 1850 zoologists realized the species was still living, when Paul Gervais compared the type specimen to a whale stranded at Aresquiès, Hérault. He found the two to be identical.