The royal flycatchers are a genus, Onychorhynchus, of passerine birds that the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) places in the family Tityridae.

[1] The genus name Onychorhynchus comes from the Greek words ὄνυξ onyx "nail" and ρυγχος rhynkhos "bill".

[2] The specific epithet of the type species, coronatus, and the common name royal flycatcher, refer to the striking, colorful crest,[3] which is seen displayed very rarely,[3] except after mating, while preening, in courtship as well as being handled.

[3] For many years the IOC and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) placed four species in genus Onychorhynchus.

Like Clements the AOS committees place the royal flycatcher in family Onychorhynchidae.