Under the Kingdom Animalia, cockroaches belong to the Phylum Arthropoda, Class Insecta, and Order Blattodea. The Order name is derived from the Greek blatta .

Some of the scientific names of the different species of cockroaches are the American cockroach ( Periplaneta americana ), the Florida woods cockroach (Eurycotisfloridana ), the Oriental cockroach (Blattaorientalis ) , the German cockroach (Blattellagermanica ), the Asian cockroach ( Blattellaasahinai ), the Surinam cockroach (Pycnoscelussurinamensis) , the brown-banded cockroach (Supellalongipalpa ), the Australian cockroach (Periplanetaaustralasiae ), the smoky brown cockroach (Periplanetafuliginosa) , the Pennsylvania woods cockroach ( Parcoblattapennsylvanica ), the brown cockroach (Periplanetabrunnea ), and the Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhinaportentosa ).