Bedford in 1931 was based upon a single female collected under a stone at Kamieskroon, in Little Namaqualand, by Dr R.F.

[7] The genus and family were named for the bacteriologist George Nuttall, a specialist in diseases transmitted by ticks.

[6] In 2024, 5 fossil species of the genus were described from Burmese amber in Myanmar, dating to the mid-Cretaceous, around 100 million years ago.

In this study, it was suggested that the extinct genera Deinocroton and Legionaris also known from Burmese amber should also be included in Nuttalliellidae.

[6] Genetic sequencing of blood found in N. namaqua show a wide diversity of lizard hosts.