[5] Like many other sites in Bosnia, Vrbanja is named after the willows that grow along the river from Kruševo Brdo to Banja Luka.

Other examples are Vrbanjci village and Vrbanja, near Banja Luka, as well as Vrbas and a bridge in the center of Sarajevo.

The Vrbanja source is on the slopes of Vlašić Mountain, upstream of Pilipovina village (at about 1,530 meters above sea level).

During the Austro-Hungarian administration of 1878–1914, a wide network of railway communications was built along the Vrbanja, with the support of the Bosnian Government.

[7][8] During the War in Bosnia (1992 – 1995), Serbian Police and Army forces destroyed many of the surrounding Bosniak and Croat villages along the Vrbanja valley, from Kruševo Brdo downstream to Banja Luka.