"Banksia aquilonia" was first described by Alex George in 1981 as a variety of "Banksia integrifolia" (coast banksia), from a specimen collected at Witts Lookout in Crystal Creek National Park south of Ingham on 12 April 1975.The species name is the Latin adjective "aquilonius", meaning "northern", as it was the most northerly form of "B. integrifolia".