Where does “Nordvietnam” come from?

Nordvietnam (German) comes from German nord, from Middle High German nort, from Old High German nord, from Proto-West Germanic *norþr, from Proto-Germanic nurþraz, from Proto-Indo-European *nér — below the surface, below.

Ancestry of “Nordvietnam”, step by step

Nordvietnam traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German nord

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germannordthe north (used without article; a short form of Norden)
2Middle High Germannort—
3Old High Germannordnorth
4Proto-West Germanic*norþrnorthern, northernly
5Proto-Germanicnurþraznorth, northern
6Proto-Indo-European*nérbelow the surface, below

via German Vietnam

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanVietnamVietnam
2VietnameseViệt NamVietnamese
3VietnameseNam ViệtNanyue
4Middle Chinese南—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *nér →