The genus was circumscribed in 2008 by lichenologists Robert Lücking, Emmanuël Sérusiaux, and Klaus Kalb, with Eugeniella psychotriae assigned as the type species.

[2] This lichen was originally called Patellaria psychotriae by Johannes Müller Argoviensis in 1881.

[3] The seven species that were initially included in the genus had previously been placed in the genera Bacidia (sensu lato) and Byssoloma.

[2] Several newly identified species from Australasia and Central and South America were later added.

The genus name of Eugeniella is in honour of Eugênia Cristina Gonçalves Pereira (b.1960), a Brazilian botanist (Mycology and Lichenology) and Professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Recife, Brasil.