'self-label' is a modern English compound formed from the pronoun 'self' and the noun 'label'. 'self' comes from Old English 'self' meaning 'the same' or 'one's own', and 'label' came into Middle English from Old French 'labele' (a strip or tag).

'label' developed in Middle English from Old French 'labele' (a ribbon, tag) and later came to mean a word or phrase used to classify. The compound 'self-label' is a recent formation (20th century onward) combining 'self' + 'label' to express a person's own chosen descriptor.

Originally the elements referred to 'one's own' and a physical 'tag'; over time the compound evolved to mean a person's chosen verbal descriptor of identity or characteristics rather than a literal tag.