Where does “Viêt Nam” come from?

Viêt Nam (Muong) comes from Vietnamese Việt Nam, from Vietnamese Nam Việt, from Middle Chinese 南.

Ancestry of “Viêt Nam”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1VietnameseViệt NamVietnamese
2VietnameseNam ViệtNanyue
3Middle Chinese
Every word from Middle Chinese Every word from Vietnamese Nam ViệtEvery word from Vietnamese Việt Nam