The possible influence of baseball on a famous comedian's name.
 

Yes, George Burns' name came from one of two possibilities or a combination thereof.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Burns

More than wikipedia has reported this (Early Life section of biography):

"Burns was drafted into the United States Army when the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, but failed the physical examination because he was extremely nearsighted.[9] To hide his Jewish heritage, he adopted the stage name by which he would be known for the rest of his life. He later claimed that he selected the name George Burns because there were two active star professional baseball players with the name (George H. Burns and George J. Burns, unrelated), each of whom accumulated more than 2,000 hits and held some major-league records. Burns also was reported to have taken "George" from his brother Izzy (who had first adopted the name because he hated his own) and "Burns" from the Burns Brothers Coal Company, from whose trucks he stole coal as a youth.[10][11]: 33 "

This guy had an amazing twilight. He was a pretty big comedic name well into his 90s and had those popular 'O God' movies. Lived to 100. What a life.

interesting obviously a baseball fan - George Burns is probably better than something like Nate Peartree - although Jewish Birnbaum In German means Pear tree

Much like Betty White, he was declared a national treasure that had to be cherished and protected at all costs. Not trying to diminish either of them, but a few rare few get this treatment and many many others just fade away completely. Probably helps to be completely uncontroversial with no baggage. And live really long.