The species is divided into two major groups, each comprising several races. The two groups intergrade at their boundary, so the caniceps group is not recognised as a distinct species despite its readily distinguishable plumage. Carduelis carduelis carduelis group.
* Carduelis carduelis balcanica. Southeastern Europe.
* Carduelis carduelis brevirostris. Crimea, north Caucasus.
* Carduelis carduelis britannica. British Isles.
* Carduelis carduelis carduelis. Most of European mainland, Scandinavia.
* Carduelis carduelis loudoni. South Caucasus, Iran.
* Carduelis carduelis major. Western Siberia.
* Carduelis carduelis niediecki. Southwest Asia, northeast Africa.
* Carduelis carduelis parva. Atlantic macaronesic Islands ( Canary I., Madeira), Iberia[citation needed] , northwest Africa.
* Carduelis carduelis tschusii. Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily.
Carduelis carduelis caniceps group.
* Carduelis carduelis caniceps. Southern central Asia.
* Carduelis carduelis paropanisi. Afghanistan to western Himalaya and Tien Shan.
* Carduelis carduelis subulata. South-central Siberia.
Linnaeus classified the bird as Fringilla carduelis
