The species Sternotherus minor was described by palenteologist Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz in 1857. The common name of Sternotherus minor is the loggerhead musk turtle.

The species Sternotherus minor has two subspecies, the nominate form Sternotherus minor minor, and the subspecies Sternotherus minor peltifer. Some authorities describe the Sternotherus minor peltifer as a seperate specie within the genus Sternotherus; Sternotherus peltifer.