Hester

The disgraced heroine of The Scarlet Letter's name, after long neglect, just might have a chance at revival,following in the wake of sister-name Esther. We've characterized her elsewhere as an eccentric aristocrat, much more accepted in the UK than she has been here.

Hester's beyond-Hawthorne's literary appearances include as characters in Theodore Dreiser's novel "An American Tragedy," in Oscar Wilde's play "A Woman of No Importance," in John Irving's novel "A Prayer for Owen Meaney," and as Niles And Frasier Crane's mom on Frasier.

Hetty is Hester's usual nickname,sometimes used independently.