Podnart was attested in written sources in 1763–87 as Podnart and Podnarth. The name is a fused prepositional phrase that has lost case inflection, from pod 'below' + nart 'end of a mountain chain, level area between mountains and a valley'. In this case, it refers to the settlement's location below the hills between the Sava River and Lipnica Creek.[2]
