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Hester.

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Hester makes me think of gnarly witch fingers and gray hair. Of cows and rundown farms.

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I like the somewhat similar Heather. But Hester, hmm, makes me think of fester. It must be the "-ester" because I've never liked Esther or Nestor either. Maybe I knew one in a past life and it just ruined "-ester" names for me, ha.

Hester is one of my favorite female names! Such a no-nonsense witch!

I love Esther.

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I guess, objectively, Hester isn't that different sounding, but when I see it, I usually think...hyster/hysteria.
I think I also associate it almost exclusively with Puritans? I have the impression that Hester is very repressed and unhappy.

I love Hester!

It hisses and snarls!

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I've taken to calling those balls of dead tangled hair pulled out of hairbrushes "hesters," because the name fits them SO perfectly.

Oh my I love Hester. It's so bewitching.

If Esther didn't exist, I probably wouldn't mind it that much. But Esther is so much nicer, not to mention less hissy. And the Scarlet Letter connection doesn't help; compared with Esther in Bleak House, Hester lacks energy and oomph.

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And I must admit that I had a Hester colleague once who would have put me right off any name in the entire solar system - make that the galaxy. Usually I can ignore that kind of association, but she was ... different.

I like Hester. I told my family once that I thought it was a stylish, evocative name and they looked at me like I was nuts.