'Minnan' originates from Chinese, specifically the word '閩南', where '閩' referred to the Min region/Min River and '南' meant 'south'.

'Minnan' came into English via romanizations of Mandarin and local pronunciations (e.g. pinyin 'Mǐnnán', Wade–Giles 'Min-nan'), with the Chinese characters '閩南' designating the southern part of Fujian; this led to English forms like 'Min-nan' and the modern 'Minnan'.

Initially it referred primarily to the southern Fujian region ('south of Min'); over time it came to denote both the language varieties spoken there and the people/culture associated with that area.