From the 1920s onwards, Soviet scientists discovered fragmentary fossils near Dzharakuduk in the district Navoi Viloyat, leading them to the conclusion that some ceratopid must have been present. In 1988, paleontologist Lev Aleksandrovich Nesov based on these published the name Turanoceratops tardabilis,[1] but did not provide a description so that for the time being it remained a nomen nudum. In 1989, Nesov, L.F. Kaznysjkina and Gennady Olegovich Cherepanov validly named the type species Turanoceratops tardabilis. The generic name is a combination of Turan, an old Persian name for Turkestan, the general region of the finds, and ~ceratops, "horned face", a usual suffix in ceratopian names. The specific name means "retarding" in Latin, referring to the protracted research.[2]