Blue wildebeest is placed in the family Bovidae, ruminant animals with cloven hooves. The generic name "Connochaetes" derives from the Greek words κόννος, kónnos, "beard", and χαίτη, khaítē, "flowing hair", "mane". The specific name "taurinus" originates from the Greek word "tauros", which means a bull or bullock. The common name "blue wildebeest" refers to the conspicuous, silvery-blue sheen of the coat, while the alternative name "gnu" originates from the name for these animals used by the Khokloi people, a native pastoralist people of southwestern Africa. Though the blue and black wildebeest are currently classified in the same genus, the latter was previously
Blue wildebeest placed in a separate genus, "Gorgon". In a study of the mitotic chromosomes and mtDNA, which was undertaken to understand more of the evolutionary relationships between the two species, the two were found to have a close phylogenetic relationship and had diverged about a million years ago. "C. taurinus" has five subspecies: The blue wildebeest is known to hybridise with the black wildebeest. The differences in social behaviour and habitats have historically prevented interspecific hybridisation, but it may occur when both species are confined within the same area, and the offspring are usually fertile. A study of these hybrid animals