Rename (new crowner Oct 21): Newton Einstein Surak

This trope currently has 13 wiks. Considering that this is almost universal in scifi, I really think that a better title would help it.

Perhaps, but we really had a lot of trouble with a name on the ykttw as it was. I vote for adding some Wiki Magic first, and then renaming if that isn't enough.

Very opaque name, support re-name.

Name is perfectly clear, and I've never seen an episode of Star Trek. Keep.

That's a pretty awful name. The first thing that comes to mind is people who take a celebrity's name for comedic effect (e.g. Homer's attempt to rename himself to Rembrandt Q. Einstein).

It's opaque and fails the Guess The Trope test, and it's not a healthy trope either, so rename sounds like a good idea.

Yeah, I honestly thought it was supposed to be kids that got named things that would make them sound smart. It's really just terrible. Just because the YKTTW had a hard time picking a name doesn't mean we should just go with whatever got decided on just to get it shoved out the door.

If we went with technology instead of people, it would be easier to tell what's going on if you don't know who Surak is—e.g. Cell Phones Television Robot Butlers, or whatever.

Seeing how I gave the trope its name, I feel I should say something. What if we were to punctuate it, like we did for another trope of mine: "El Niño" Is Spanish for "The Niño"?

I can't imagine how punctuation would fix this. Care to elaborate?

Putting commas in would at least make it clear that it's supposed to be a list, and not a full name, which is what it looks like to me.

I agree with Premonition. Also the name is clear, and I passed the Guess That Trope "test", if it can even be called that, with flying colors, just because. What the name is not is concise though, which customtitling might help with.

I could have sworn we had this trope already, except with cultural references instead of scientific ones. And that it had a much less obtuse name.

It works for me in the Guess That Trope game but I do think punctuation would help to extend that to everybody. I've submitted a custom title request.

Looking at the page example to wick ratio, I think we can help it by wicking the relevant pages. I actually don't think it is that universal nor do I believe that that is sufficient for a trope to be that widespread. The trope is largely incidental and based on clips of dialogue. Historically, those get helped by massive misuse! But also, it's not something you remember a lot in a specific scene or place and I think they grow more after people have read the page, see an example later and then go back just to fit it in.

I don't think the name is particularly obtuse even if you don't know anything about Star Trek: it's two famous scientists and some made-up name. That said, it could easily be better. Don't see how people are reading it as one name, though.

And I agree with 32 Footsteps - we may already have this.

Honestly, even with commas it sounds like two famous people and one obscure one. Or like a character trying to list himself up with the greats. There's nothing about Surak that says "scientist who will be really famous in the future and is used to cite as contemporary in Sci-Fi" as opposed to "some random guy who we don't know."

We could tweak the name for context. As Famous As Newton, Einstein, And Surak is one possibility.

Ooh, that's good.

I think the original name (with commas) is fine, although it's too bad the third name isn't more obviously sci-fi-ish. "Surak" could be an obscure Czech scientist for all I know.

There are many real life scientists named Surak right now according to Google.

Well, there you go. One of them (or one of their descendants) could very well be the next Einstein, but in the meantime, a Futurama-style cartoon alien name would say "Speculative Fiction" more clearly.

Nah, it would just sound like the Cloud Cuckoolander has funny idols.

If it's clear that they're all idols, that's good. And what does this have to do with Cloud Cuckoo Landers? In a science fiction setting, anyone might have a picture of the great Professor Snurxx sticking out his five tongues on their dorm room wall.

Yes, but using a scifi sounding name makes it sound like "Two real famous people, and a fictional character I really love."

Two Famous People And A Sci Fi Person?

You mean like as a specific Rule of Three gag? "My favourite presidents are Lincoln, Kennedy and Bartlet" — something like that? Possibly, but I don't think everyone would immediately mistake it for that, especially if the name was weird enough.

That could work.