The districts takes its name from Satna, the head quarters town, which in its turn takes it from Satna Rewa which flows near the town.The district lies on Vindhyan Plateau.

The district had its share of freedom fighters like : Queen of Jhansi Maharani Laxmi Bai, Tatya Tope, Vishwas Rao Painter, Thakur Dheer Singh and many more.

Satna district also have two major religous tourist places of Chitrakoot & Maihar.The ancient city of Buddhist culture named 'Bharhut' is also situated in this district, whose archeological remains are kept in museums. Tulsi museum at Ram Van has many unique artistic sculptures of ancient times found in this area. Lord Shiva Temple at Birsinghpur is also a famous and old temple in the region.