The genus Actenoides was introduced by the French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1850.

The type species is Hombron's kingfisher (Actenoides hombroni).

[2] The name of the genus is from the Ancient Greek aktis, aktinos for "beam" or "brightness" and -oidēs for "resembling".

[3] A molecular study published in 2017 found that the genus Actenoides, as currently defined, is paraphyletic.

The glittering kingfisher in the monotypic genus Caridonax is a member of the clade containing the species in the genus Actenoides.