by Anneza, nsi (guest)
4/3/2016, 12:35 AM
Funnily enough, I first came across it in a children's book that was written by two English schoolgirls in the 1930s. A relative of mine gave me her very old copy as a curiosity. In it, there's a character named Anthony and one of his sisters buys a booklet with name meanings: Bridget and Frances are mentioned, with accurate derivations, and then there's this interesting dialogue: "What's Anthony?" "Priceless." "Shh, don't make jokes!"
I strongly doubt that a bit of random, giggly dialogue in a happy-kids-on-horseriding-holiday book long ago could have sparked a false etymology so they must, surely, have found it somewhere.