[1] In 1997, paleontologist Scott Madsen found the single fossil, a partial skull, in Carbon County in southern Montana.

[2] In 2014 the type species Aquilops americanus was named and described by Andrew Farke, W. Desmond Maxwell, Richard L. Cifelli, and Matt J. Wedel.

The generic name is derived from Latin aquila, "eagle", and Greek ὤψ, ops, "face", in reference to the beaked snout.

The specific name americanus refers to the fact that the species represents the first unequivocal very basal neoceratopsian found in America.

[1] Stegoceras Yinlong Xuanhuaceratops Chaoyangsaurus P. sinensis P. mongoliensis Liaoceratops Aquilops Auroraceratops Yamaceratops Helioceratops Archaeoceratops Koreaceratops Leptoceratopsidae Coronosauria