The Narewka River's name comes from a Proto-Indo-European root, *nr, primarily associated with "water" (compare Narva, Neretva, Neris, Ner, and Nur).

Catchment (basin) covers an area Narewka 710.7 km2, of which the Polish border is 491.32 km.

Narewka River is marked on the first map of Bialowieza, line drawn in 1784 by the royal surveyor Michael Połchowskiego.

In December 1409 Władysław Jagiełło took place in Bialowieza Forest a great hunt, making the stocks of meat before the battle of Grunwald.

The meat is in the spring of next year, the river was floated Narewka, Narew and the Vistula to Plock.