 Müller and Henle attributed the name for the new species, "Carcharias (Hypoprion) hemiodon", to French zoologist Achille Valenciennes.The specific epithet "hemiodon" is derived from the Greek "hemi" ("half") and "odon" ("tooth").In 1862, Theodore Gill elevated "Hypoprion" to the rank of full genus and also placed the Pondicherry shark in its own genus, "Hypoprionodon", based on the relative positions of the dorsal and pectoral fins.