The lesser Antillean bullfinch was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla noctis.

[2] Linnaeus's description was primary based on "Le Père Noir" that French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson had described and illustrated in 1760.

[3] The specific epithet noctis is from the Latin nox meaning "night".

[4] The Lesser Antillean bullfinch is now placed in the genus Loxigilla that was introduced in 1831 by René Lesson.

[5][6] Eight subspecies are recognised:[6] In 2006 the Barbados bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis) was elevated to the species level; previously the species had been considered as the only non-sexually dimorphic subspecies of the Lesser Antillean bullfinch.