The specific name, cherriei, is in honor of George Kruck Cherrie, who was an American naturalist and ornithologist.

[3] The subspecific name, stuarti, is in honor of American herpetologist Laurence Cooper Stuart.

[3] S. cherriei is found in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico (Puebla, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz, Yucatán), and Nicaragua.

[2] The preferred natural habitat of S. cherriei is forest, at altitudes from sea level to 1,860 m (6,100 ft).

[2] Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Scincella.