The name Panania was on the original list of stations proposed for the Tempe-East Hills railway line in 1929.

[3] An alternative theory is that the name may be a derivation of "Pannonia", which was an ancient province of the Roman Empire southeast of the Danube River.

During the construction of the railway line the name Nioka was used for the station which is an Aboriginal word meaning the green hill.

[7] St Christopher's Catholic Church on Tower Street was originally the Panania Star cinema.

Panania North Public School, a short two block walk on the northern side of the railway line, became a demonstration school in the late 1970s so that trainee teachers from the newly established Milperra College of Advanced Education could observe teachers at work.

Anderson Avenue features several local government facilities including a senior citizens centre and a public library.

At the 2021 census, the most common religious affiliations were: Catholic (26.4%), No Religion (21.8%), Anglican (10.4%), Eastern Orthodox (8.5%) and Islam (8.1%).

After a grant from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and many donations from parishioners, the building underwent renovations costing $165,000 which were completed early in 2006.

Panania is mostly a residential suburb, which was developed after World War II and originally contained many modest freestanding bungalows built from asbestos cement sheeting (commonly known as fibro).