The black-hooded oriole was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his "Systema Naturae" under the binomial name "Coracias xanthornus". Linnaeus was confused by the similar appearance of the unrelated New World orioles and the Old World orioles. In his entry for "Coracias xanthornus" he cited a descriptions of birds occurring in Jamaica by Mark Catesby and Patrick Browne as well as an illustration by George Edwards of a bird occurring in Bengal. Linnaeus specified the habitat as "America" but Bengal is now the recognised type location. Also in the 10th edition Linnaeus listed "Sturnus luteolus" among the starlings and cited another illustration by Edwards. He renamed this species as "Oriolus melanocephalus" in the 12th edition of 1766. All three binomial names are now believed to refer to the black-hooded oriole.