The genus Huernia was named (and misspelt) by R. Brown in 1809 in honour of Justus Heurnius, a Dutch missionary who recorded the first two succulents on South African soil when he briefly visited the Cape of Good Hope (Cape Peninsula) on the ship Gouda in 1624. These were Cotyledon orbiculata and Orbea variegata (see Gunn & Codd 1981). The spelling of Huernia, instead of Heurnia, is irrevocable due to international nomenclature ruling.

Huernia pendula was named by Eileen A. Bruce in 1951 from plants collected by Mr. G.G. Smith and Miss C. Latimer at the Bolo Reserve near Ngancule along the Kei River in 1938 and again in 1949. According to Miss Bruce this plant was first noticed in 1919 by Mr. King, a storekeeper at Ngamakwe and keen grower and lover of indigenous plants. Miss Bruce also recorded the Xhosa name for the plant: "Imitya", meaning bootlaces. The species epithet 'pendula' (Latin) pertains to the pendent growth of the stems. The cylindrical rope-like pendent stems are unique in the genus Huernia in South Africa. Many of the about 70 Huernia species have square or angled stems and are confined to Africa and Arabia. Other Huernia species recorded from sheer cliffs in southern Africa include Huernia leachii (Mozambique, Malawi) and H. procumbens (Limpopo Province, South Africa), all having roundish rope-like stems.