Interestingly, Simon erected the genus Neoscona in 1864 when he was only 16 years old, and his mastery of Greek seems to have been rather "shaky" (Look Who's Talking Dept. --dbz): It is relatively clear that he meant "spinning among the reeds," but Neoscona translates literally as "spinning a reed." In 1869, Thorell charitably tried to correct this with the spelling "Neoschoena," but this was rejected by Bonnet (1958) who decided that the original spelling should be retained "even if incorrectly written"—although he agreed with Thorell.

The specific epithet crucifera references the cross-like markings that sometimes are visible on the opisthosomata of these spiders.