'Aulostomidae' originates from New Latin, specifically the genus name 'Aulostomus', where the Greek roots 'aulos' meant 'pipe' and 'stoma' meant 'mouth', and the suffix '-idae' denotes a family in zoological taxonomy.

'Aulostomidae' changed from the genus name 'Aulostomus' (from Greek 'aulostomos', literally 'pipe-mouth') and eventually became the modern English family-name form 'Aulostomidae' through New Latin taxonomic formation.

Initially, the components meant 'pipe-mouth' describing the tube-like snout, but over time the combined term evolved into its current use as the formal scientific name for the family of trumpetfishes.