Since I invariably wind up getting "name suits" types of comments, here's the explanation behind it:
Around the turn of the millennium, I was trying to come up with a username to use on a particular site that had a shortish character count limit for usernames. My goal was something related to the fact that I would often be making my points in arguments with "holier-than-thou" types by taking what they were saying, and turning it on its head so the offensive stuff was directed back at them.
I also happened to learn shortly beforehand that many years ago "'ape" was somewhat commonly used as a verb to mean "imitate" or "copy."
I'm sure you can figure the rest out.
Also works when you can't come up with a decent shitpost.