'Vietnam' originates from Vietnamese, specifically the word 'Việt Nam', where 'Việt' referred to the Viet (Yue) people and 'Nam' meant 'south'.

'Vietnam' changed from the Sino-Vietnamese form 'Việt Nam' (historically written with Chinese characters such as 南越 or 越南) and terms like 'Nam Việt' appear in ancient records; the modern form 'Việt Nam' was adopted as the country's name in the early 19th century.

Initially it meant 'southern Yue' or 'the Viet people of the south', but over time it evolved into the modern nation-name meaning the country/state of Vietnam.