the genus was first named as "eothele" by paul a. selden in 1996. however, this name had already been used for a cambrian brachiopod, so in 2000, selden proposed the replacement name "palaeothele". "palaeothele" is derived from the greek , "ancient", and , "nipple" – a common ending for spider names, referring to their spinnerets. the species name "montceauensis" refers to the location where the fossils were found.