Miacidae was named by Cope (1880). It was considered paraphyletic by Wesley-Hunt and Werdelin (2005), Flynn et al. (2010), Smith and Smith (2010).

It was synonymized subjectively with Uintacyonidae by Hay (1902); it was considered an invalid subgroup of Carnivora by Polly et al. (2006); it was considered an invalid subgroup of Carnivoramorpha by Spaulding et al. (2010).

It was assigned to Creodonta by Cope (1880), Cope (1880); to Creodonta by Cope (1889); to Caniformia by Bryant (1991); to Canidae by Astibia et al. (2000); to Carnivoramorpha by Wesley-Hunt and Werdelin (2005), Friscia and Rasmussen (2010); to Carnivoraformes by Flynn et al. (2010); to Carnivora by Peterson (1919), Thurmond and Jones (1981), Heinrich et al. (2008), Smith and Smith (2010); and to Miacoidea by Hooker (1986), Flynn (1998), Meehan and Wilson (2002), Rose et al. (2012).