The street owes its name to Moscow butchers, whose houses and shops were located along it in the 16th century. The name was preserved even after a few decades later butchers were forced to move trade closer to Zemlyanoy Val, and after a while and stop their activities altogether.

During the reign of Emperor Pyotr Alekseevich, Myasnitskaya Street was used as a road connecting the Kremlin and Nemetskaya Sloboda. Along it, villages of new aristocrats, headed by Prince Menshikov, and Moscow nobles began to appear. The name of Myasnitskaya Street remained unchanged for centuries, only with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks in 1918 did the street become known in a new, Soviet way — Pervomayskaya. However, this name was not destined to gain a foothold for a long time — in December 1935 it was renamed again, this time Kirov Street. Fifty-five years later, the street was returned to its historical name — Myasnitskaya.

The street is mentioned in Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin's poem “Road Complaints”. Mayakovsky dedicated a whole poem to Myasnitskaya, Mikhail Bulgakov also recalled it in his immortal novel “The Master and Margarita”.