It's a matter of, at least, political sensitivity. In the states, the use of American Indian names for things, especially things that have nothing to do with First Nation culture, is considered a faux pas at best, and extremely hurtful at worst. Hence why many schools have had to drop American Indian-related mascots and names.
Other ethnicities might think they're being harmless or even honorable when naming themselves the Braves or the Indians. First Nation peoples disagree. A lot.
Are there other instances on SARP where we've named things after historical figures? I can't name any. Mythological figures, flowers, towns, cities and other things that no one is sensitive to seems fine, but historical figures — naming some ship class "Mormon" for instance — would go over just as badly as this one did.