It was described in 1898 by Portuguese zoologist José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage.

Bocage initially placed it in the now-defunct genus Cynonycteris, with a binomial of C.

[2] Its species name "angolensis" is Latin for "Angolan," likely in reference to the fact that the holotype was collected near Pungo Andongo in Angola.

[3] The Angolan rousette has a wide range encompassing parts of West, East, and Central Africa.

It meets the criteria for this classification because it has a wide geographic range; its population is presumably large; its range includes protected areas; it is not likely to be in rapid population decline; and it tolerates a degree of anthropogenic habitat disturbance.