Vepris carringtoniana falls under the buchu family, Rutaceae. Its synonym is  Teclea pilosa (Engl.) I.Verd. There is some doubt as to which genus this species belongs. The ovary is 1-celled as in Teclea whereas in stamen number, the species agrees with Vepris. In separating Teclea from Vepris too much emphasis appears to have been placed on stamen number relative to petal number, whereas, the character of the gynoecium is of more significance.
The genus name Vepris is derived from the Latin, meaning ‘spiny shrub’, but as the genus has no spines, the meaning is unclear. Carringtoniana  is a reference to Prof. Carrington Costa, of whom no details are available. Teclea was named after Tekle or Takla Haimanout, ancient Ethopian emperor. The genus Teclea was published in 1843 by French botanist Alire Raffeneau Delile and pilosa is applied to plant species with long soft hairs.