In 1760, the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the red fody in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Madagascar.

[2] Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.

[3] When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson.

Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Loxia madagascariensis and cited Brisson's work.

It has been introduced to other areas of the Indian Ocean, included the Amirantes, Comoros, Seychelles, Mauritius, Réunion and Saint Helena.