Vashti comes from the Old Persian vahišta, meaning "beautiful" or "the best." In the Book of Esther, Vashti is the Persian queen who refuses King Ahasuerus's order to display her beauty to his banquet guests — and is deposed, making way for Esther.
Vashti has been embraced by Jewish feminist tradition as a figure of dignity and refusal. The singer Vashti Bunyan is a contemporary bearer.
Vashti reduces to nine — the number of dignified refusal.