Why is a flapjack called a flapjack?

Answer 1

From Wikipedia;

The Oxford English Dictionary records the word flapjack as being used as early as the beginning of the 17th century, but at this time it seems to have been a flat tart or pan-cake. Shakespeare refers to flapjack in Pericles, Prince of Tyre, but this is one of the many anachronisms in his historical plays and does not suggest that he thought it was a middle eastern dish, merely a common English dessert of the time:

"Come, thou shant go home, and we'll have flesh for holidays, fish for fasting-days, and moreo'er puddings and flap-jacks, and thou shalt be welcome."
Act II Scene I

Later, flapjack would be used to describe something similar to an apple flan, but it is not until 1935 that the word is first used to describe a food made of oats. While in England this usage has mostly superseded earlier recipes, in North America, flapjack is another term for a pancake, made using baking powder which causes the pancake to rise. The word elements: flap- meaning a tossed mixture and jack, an uncertain word suggesting a variety, imply any ingredients could be called a flapjack.

Answer 2

Flap jacks go the name from old settlements using these flapjacks(pancakes) used in dinners and tradition dances and such

Answer 3

A flapjack is, loosely, another word for a thick pancake. The origin seems to be flap "tossed mixture" - jack "variety" (uncertain)

Answer 4

In the 1700's a man named Jack decided he wanted to eat a nice pancake breakfast. His neighbors didn't know what they were. So Jack told them they were Flapjacks.