Until the late 19th century, the name Darnytsia was commonly applied to the plain on the left bank of Dnieper river () across from the Kyiv city center. Up to the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the area was legally part of the Chernigov Governorate (Chernihiv), despite being adjacent to Kyiv, also a center of its Guberniya, with the Dnieper river being the official division line. The village of Nova-Darnytsia and the rest of the area of the today's raion were incorporated into the city of Kyiv in 1927. In 1935 Darnytsia became a separate raion of the city.