[3] The Polynesian starling was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae.

[4][5] The specific epithet is from the toponym Tongatapu, one of the main islands of Tonga.

[6] Gmelin based his account on the "Tabuan shrike" that had been described in 1781 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds.

Latham had examined a specimen from "Tongo Taboo" (Tongatapu) that was held by the Leverian Museum in London.

[7] The Polynesian starling is now placed in the genus Aplonis that was introduced in 1836 by John Gould.