The Somali lark was formally described in 1903 by the British ornithologist Harry Witherby under the binomial name Certhilauda somalica.

It is one of several species that were moved to the resurrected genus Corypha based on the results of a large molecular genetic study by the Swedish ornithologist Per Alström and collaborators that was published in 2023.

It is now considered to be a subspecies of the Somali lark based on molecular genetic and behavioral evidence, as well as a shared type locality.

[4][8] It was originally described by the ornithologist Peter Colston in 1982 under the binomial name Mirafra ashi.

Colston chose the specific epithet to honour the ornithologist John Ash who had collected the specimen.