Coelophysis is a Latinized scientific name based on two Greek words: koilos, which means “hollow,” and physis, meaning “nature or condition.” American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope (1840-1897) coined the name for the Triassic dinosaur in 1889 because of the hollow bones of Coelophysis. At the time, Cope saw the hollow bones as a distinctive feature of Coelophysis, but we now know that, like Coelophysis, all other meat-eating dinosaurs have hollow bones as well.

The scientific literature contains much discussion about the name Coelophysis and its validity. In 1887, Cope actually first assigned the bones he later named Coelophysis to another kind of dinosaur, Coelurus, then changed his mind and assigned them to the bizarre, long-necked reptile Tanystropheus. Only later did he decide to attribute them to a new kind of dinosaur that he named Coelophysis.

Podokesaurus was a name proposed for an incomplete dinosaur skeleton found in the Lower Jurassic of Massachussetts that some paleontologists have considered to be a skeleton of Coelophysis. Unfortunately, the one and only fossil of Podokesaurus was destroyed in a fire, so it cannot be directly compared to Coelophysis fossils.

The name Syntarsus was originally proposed for a Lower Jurassic dinosaur from South Africa, and some paleontologists consider it to be the same dinosaur as Coelophysis.

The names Podokesaurus and Syntarsus (technically, the correct name of this dinosaur is Megapnosaurus) were proposed after the name Coelophysis. If these names all represent the same dinosaur, then Coelophysis, the name first proposed, has priority and will continue to be used.