The blue-faced honeyeater was first described by ornithologist John Latham in his 1801 work, "Supplementum Indicis Ornithologici, sive Systematis Ornithologiae". However, he described it as three separate species, seemingly not knowing it was the same bird in each case: the blue-eared grackle ("Gracula cyanotis"), the blue-cheeked bee-eater ("Merops cyanops"), and the blue-cheeked thrush ("Turdus cyanous"). It was as the blue-cheeked bee-eater that it was painted between 1788 and 1797 by Thomas Watling, one of a group known collectively as the Port Jackson Painter. was reclassified in the genus "Entomyzon", which was erected by William Swainson in 1825. He observed that the "Blue-faced Grakle" was the only insectivorous member of the genus, and posited that it was a link between the smaller honeyeaters and the riflebirds of the genus "Ptiloris". The generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek "ento-/εντο"- 'inside' and "myzein/μυζειν" 'to drink' or 'suck'. The specific epithet, "cyanotis", means 'blue-eared', and combines "cyano-/κυανο" 'blue' with "otis" (a Latinised form of "ωτος", the Greek genitive of "ous/ους") 'ear'. Swainson spelt it "Entomiza" in an 1837 publication, and George Gray wrote "Entomyza" in 1840.