The word nyr denoted a person living in a burrow, lair or den of an animal.

[8] During World War II, Nýřany was annexed by Nazi Germany and administered as part of Reichsgau Sudetenland.

Near the end of the war one transport of death was surprised by an airstrike and about hundred of prisoners managed to escape.

They were chased by SS-Guards and local Germans and either killed on the spot or executed at the place called Humboldtka.

[9][10] The D5 motorway from Plzeň to the Czech-German border in Rozvadov passes through the southern part of the municipal territory.

[13] The most important monument is the Church of Saint Procopius in the middle of the town square.