'non-Yankee' originates from English, formed by the negative prefix 'non-' plus 'Yankee'; the prefix 'non-' ultimately comes from Latin 'non' meaning 'not'.

'Yankee' (used in American English from the 18th century) likely developed from Dutch 'Janke' (a diminutive of 'Jan') or similar nicknames applied by early settlers; over time English adopted 'Yankee' and English speakers later created the compound 'non-Yankee' by adding the prefix 'non-'.

Originally 'Yankee' referred especially to New Englanders (and later more broadly to Northerners); it later widened in some contexts to mean 'American' generally. 'Non-Yankee' is a later negation meaning 'not a Yankee' and has stayed a direct negative of that term.