Halecomorphi was named by Cope (1872). It is extant.

It was reranked as the suborder Halecomorphi by Hay (1902); it was reranked as the superorder Halecomorphi by Hall and Wolberg (1989); it was reranked as the unranked clade Halecomorphi by Brito (2000), Nelson (2006), Cavin et al. (2007), Alvarado-Ortega and Espinosa-Arrubarrena (2008), Machado et al. (2013), Nelson et al. (2016), Carnevale and Godfrey (2018).

It was assigned to Actinopterygia by Cope (1887); to Pisces by Cope (1891); to Holostei by Hay (1902); to Ganoidei by Jordan (1963); to Actinopterygii by Hall and Wolberg (1989), Brito (2000); to Holostei by Cavin et al. (2007); to Teleostei by Alvarado-Ortega and Espinosa-Arrubarrena (2008); to Neopterygii by Machado et al. (2013); to Holostei by Nelson et al. (2016); and to Halecostomi by Nelson (2006), Carnevale and Godfrey (2018).