The genus name Jianchangosaurus, means "Jianchang lizard", and is derived from "Jianchang", the name of the county of Liaoning Province, China, where the specimen was found, and the Greek word "sauros" (σαυρος) meaning "lizard"[2] The specific name yixianensis, refers to the Yixian Formation where the specimen was found, and the Latin suffix "-ensis" meaning "originating in". Jianchangosaurus was described and named by Hanyong Pu, Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, Junchang Lu, Li Xu, Yanhua Wu, Huali Chang, Jiming Zhang, and Songhai Jia in 2013 and the type species is Jianchangosaurus yixianensis.