 The species name honours French gardener Anselme Riedlé.An orthographic variant—"M. reidlei"— was used by the revising author, Charles Gardner, when assigning it to the genus "Macrozamia" and citing specimens obtained near Collie, Manjimup, Bow Bridge, and other sites south of Perth.The colonists applied the term zamia and zamia palm to the once common plant, this continued to be given in some listings and guides.