George Burns

George Burns (1896-1996), along with his wife Gracie Allen, formed the 20th century husband-and-wife comedy duo "Burns and Allen".

They would end their stage shows and television program with the immortal phrase "Say goodnight, Gracie." This phrase made its first appearance at the Roxy Theater in New York City, in 1932. After attempting to learn humor, with little success, Data accidentially paraphrased their hallmark and elicited laughter among the crew on the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D). 

The humpback whale, George, was (presumably) named by the staff at the Cetacean Institute for Burns.