In 1829, Richard Harlan renamed the turtle "Emys muhlenbergii". The species was subsequently renamed to "Calemys muhlenbergii" by Louis Agassiz in 1857, and to "Clemmys muhlenbergii" by Henry Watson Fowler in 1906. Synonyms include "Emys biguttata", named in 1824 by Thomas Say on the basis of a turtle from the vicinity of Philadelphia, and "Clemmys nuchalis", described by Dunn in 1917 from near Linville, North Carolina. Today, there are various names for the bog turtle, including mud turtle, marsh turtle, yellowhead, and snapper.