The French horn is not French. It's German. (And, most horn players will refer to their instruments as simply the horn.)
The English horn is not a horn and it is actually French. The name comes from a corruption of the original name of cor anglais. Cor anglais actually is French for English horn (to further confuse matters) but the shape of the instrument reminded people of the "angelic horns" in religious paintings of the Middle Ages. Engellisches Horn gave way to English horn and, for lack of a better alternative, the name stuck. Well, they probably could have come up with a more original name, but I suppose they had other things to do.
The clarinet is named for the range it plays in (the clarion register) of a trumpet at the time of its development.
"Oboe" comes from the French hautbois, which means "high wood."
In French, paperclips are called "trombones" (but that, admittedly, has nothing to do with how the instrument was named. I just find that funny. :) "Trombone" comes from the Italian tromba, meaning trumpet and -one, which means large. => Large trumpet.
Saxophones are named after their inventor, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax.
Sousaphones are named for John Phillip Sousa (the March King) who helped with the design of a marching tuba.
String basses aren't just big violins. They actually come from a different family of instruments known as gambas. They are also tuned differently, in fourths instead of fifths like the violin, viola, and cello.
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