Rhynchosauria was named by Osborn (1903). It was considered monophyletic by Ezcurra (2016).

It was reranked as the suborder Rhynchosauri by Jaekel (1910); it was corrected as Rhynchosauri by Jaekel (1911); it was reranked as the suborder Rhynchosauria by Roxo (1937), Kuhn (1946), Kuhn (1966); it was reranked as the unranked clade Rhynchosauria by Long and Murry (1995), Ezcurra (2016).

It was assigned to Diaptosauria by Osborn (1903); to Sphenodonti by Jaekel (1910); to Holosauria by Jaekel (1911); to Rhynchocephalia by Roxo (1937), Kuhn (1946), Kuhn (1966); to Archosauromorpha by Gauthier et al. (1989), Long and Murry (1995), Dilkes (1998); to Archosauromorpha by Benton (1985), Carroll (1988), Benton (1990), Nesbitt and Whatley (2004); and to Crocopoda by Ezcurra (2016).