The western jackdaw was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th century work "Systema Naturae". Owing to its supposed fondness for picking up coins, Linnaeus gave it the binomial name "Corvus monedula", choosing the specific name "mǒnēdŭla", which is derived from "moneta", the Latin stem of the word "money". Jackdaws are sometimes placed in the genus "Coloeus", from the Ancient Greek κολοιός ("koloios") for jackdaw, though most subsequent works have retained the two jackdaw species in "Corvus".