The genus name Dombeya was given in honour of the French botanist and explorer in South America Joseph Dombey. There are over 190 species of Dombeya, all shrubs and small trees that are known for their large soft leaves and their blooms.

This species is named in honour of Dr John Kirk (1832-1922). He was born in Scotland, graduated as a medical doctor but was also a keen botanist. He joined Livingstone’s second expedition where he collected many plant specimens, made many field drawings of the Zambezi Valley and was among the first to photograph the vegetation in this area. He was the first to collect specimens of Dombeya kirkii, which he found at the Mupata Gorge on the Zambezi River above Cahora Bassa around 1860. Many more plants are named after him including Kirkia acuminata, Diospyros kirkii, Acacia kirkii, Cleistochlamys kirkii and Maerua kirkii, all of which were first collected by James Kirk.

Dombeya kirkii is closely related to D. cymosa but differs in that its leaves and calyces are larger and the flower stalks are more hairy with a mixture of long and short hairs. Calyces are the sepals of a flower, typically forming a whorl that encloses the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud.