The Muppets Bert and Ernie were designed by Don Sahlin based on two fruits: Bert was a banana and Ernie was an orange.
Rumor was, Bert and Ernie were named after two characters in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" (Bert the cop and Ernie the cabbie).
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/02/total-destructi.html