Adiantum pedatum was described by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum in 1753 (the official starting point of modern botanical nomenclature).

Specimens collected in Unalaska and Kodiak Island by Chamisso and Langsdorf were referred to as Adiantum boreale by Presl in 1836, although he did not provide a species description to accompany the name.

In 1857, E. J. Lowe noted that Wallich and Cantor had collected the species in northern India, and that material from the western United States ranged as far south as California.

It was one of the many species cited by Asa Gray as disjunct between Japan and both the eastern and western United States.

It grows in a variety of habitats, but generally favors soils that are both humus-rich, moist, and well-drained.