The family-group name based on the genus Leiothrix has been the object of a certain amount of doubt and confusion in recent years, centred around the spelling of the stem of the name. When the name was coined in 1832, it was with the correct stem, ‘Leiotrich-’, and this spelling was almost invariably used over the following c.180 years. An erroneous subsequent spelling of the stem ‘Leiothrich-’ first appeared in 1869 but was largely ignored until the 21st century, when several recent authors have mistakenly adopted it, although the original and correct spelling is also still commonly used. The original spelling of the stem is the only correct form, so a family based on this name must be known as Leiotrichidae.