[2] Marmora's warbler was formerly described in 1820 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck under the binomial name Sylvia sarda.

Temminck based his account on a manuscript by the Italian soldier and naturalist Alberto della Marmora that had been read at the Academy of Turin in August 1819.

[3] Marmora's warbler is now one of 27 species placed in the genus Curruca that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1802.

These are small, long tailed, large-headed birds, overall very similar to their close relatives in the Dartford warbler group.

Immature birds can be confused with young Dartford warblers, which are also grey below, but Marmora's have a paler throat.