"Panulirus cygnus" was previously classified under several taxonomic arrangements, the first description was published in 1962. The author, Ray George, recognised the similarities to other species of "Panulirus", such as "Panulirus longipes", but regarded the number of distinctions qualified this as a separate species. The generic name is an anagram of "Palinurus", as with other genera of its nominal family Palinuridae, the spiny lobsters. The name is derived from Palinurus, mentioned in the Aeneid, whose improper burial caused his soul to drift near the coast to the open seas; an appropriate metaphor for the habits of the spiny lobsters that develop near the coast and migrate away from it.