The type species, P. sirindhornae, was described by Martin, Buffetaut, and Suteethorn in 1994; it was named to honour Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand, who was interested in the geology and palaeontology of Thailand.
The phylogenetic analysis conducted by the author indicated that such defined Euhelopodidae, in addition to Euhelopus itself, contained genera Qiaowanlong, Erketu, Daxiatitan, Tangvayosaurus and Phuwiangosaurus as well.