 Only in 2014, Frida Stångberg and Arne Anderberg reassigned "Hirpicium alienatum" and "H. integrifolium" to "Gorteria", and clarified the relationship between the taxa within "Gorteria".The genus was named in honour of the Dutch physicians and botanists Johannes de Gorter and his son David de Gorter.The tribe Arctotideae consists of the subtribes Arctotidinae and Gorteriinae.