Alongside the main settlement, it has the boroughs of Kostolný Sek and Nitriansky Hrádok, both annexed 1976.

The town name comes from Slavic šur-, šurý (curved, in a wider sense hilly) + the suffix -any referring to people.

The town was first mentioned under name villa Suran in a document of Hungarian king Béla II in 1138.

[5] Before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, Šurany was part of Nyitra County within the Kingdom of Hungary.

Šurany lies at an altitude of 123 metres (404 ft) above sea level and covers an area of 59.812 square kilometres (23.1 sq mi).