The genus Thlypopsis was introduced by the German ornithologists Jean Cabanis in 1851.

[2] The name combines the Ancient Greek thlupis, a word for an unknown small bird, and opsis meaning "appearance".

[3] The type species was subsequently designated as the orange-headed tanager (Thlypopsis sordida).

A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that these two species were embedded in Thlypopsis.

[6] The genus contains eight species:[7] east Paraguay, northeast Argentina, and south Brazil