The spectacled warbler (Sylvia conspicillata) is a species in the typical warbler genus Sylvia. The genus name is from Modern Latin silvia, a woodland sprite, related to silva, a wood. The specific conspicillata is from Latin conspicillum, a place to look from, equivalent to "spectacled". About the precise relationships of this bird, not much can be said with certainty. It seems though as if its intermediate appearance, apart from the autapomorphic white eye ring, indicates its relationships reasonably well. It is not the closest living relative of at least Tristram's warbler though.