Although they’re not a dessert, they’re named after a specific kind of French pastry, that was one called mille-feuilles (meaning “thousand leaves,” in reference to its layers). This pastry was renamed “napoleon,” and the nickname may be in reference to the emperor, but theories also claim it to be a derivative of the word “Naples,” after the multi-layered cakes of the region. It’s actually a mystery exactly how they got their name.