红山文化
The type species "Hongshanopterus lacustris" was in 2008 named and described by Wang Xiaolin, Diogenes de Almeida Campos, Zhou Zhonghe and Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner. The generic name combines a reference to the Hongshan culture in Lioaning with a Latinised Greek "pteron", "wing". The specific name means "of the lake" in Latin, referring to the lake deposits the fossil was found in, at Dapinfang.