The genus Berkheya was created by Jakob Friedrich Ehrhart in 1784, he named it in honour of Johannes le Francq van Berkhey, a Dutch botanist. The genus Berkheya is native to southern and tropical Africa and contains around 75 species with the majority being indigenous in southern Africa. The plants are often spiny with a thistle-like appearance and some species are considered weeds. The genus includes other notable members such as Berkheya purpurea, Berkheya radula and Berkheya angustifolia.

The specific name angusta is Latin, meaning narrow, which likely refers to the leaves. Berkheya angusta is poorly known and is often misidentified as the closely related and similar looking genus Cullumia.

The species belongs to the very large daisy family, Asteraceae. It is one of the largest families of flowering plants, with over 32 000 species, including well known garden plants like sunflowers, daisies and chrysanthemums, as well as edible artichokes and lettuce.