I know a lot of little girls named [name_u]Yael[/name_u] (I live in a highly populated Jewish community) and it’s always so difficult to say for me. 99% of them go by [name_f]Yaeli[/name_f] (ya-ellie) as a nn because it flows better and other kids can say it easier.
I like [name_f]Ella[/name_f], [name_f]Rachel[/name_f], and [name_u]Yael[/name_u]. All beautiful. But, I think [name_f]Ella[/name_f] and [name_u]Yael[/name_u] in the same combination don’t really work, because of the repeated “[name_f]Elle[/name_f]” sound.
[name_f]Ella[/name_f] [name_f]Rachel[/name_f], or [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] [name_u]Yael[/name_u] would both be so pretty.
I love [name_f]Rachel[/name_f]! [name_u]Yael[/name_u] is intriguing, but I’ve always had a thing for [name_f]Rachel[/name_f]. I guess it depends on what the FN is–not so much based on flow, but I just like some names better with certain names than others. I’d pick [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] [name_u]Yael[/name_u] over [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] [name_f]Rachel[/name_f], but [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f] [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] over [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f] [name_u]Yael[/name_u], I think. And [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] over [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] [name_u]Yael[/name_u] (regardless of flow). Combos is more about how a combo LOOKS to me, and how the two names pair off each other, than how it flows, or even how much I [name_f]ADORE[/name_f] the individual names, even, sometimes.
But without knowing the FN, I’d say [name_f]Rachel[/name_f].
The first name is [name_f]Ella[/name_f]. And my hubby now has said that maybe we should do [name_f]Ella[/name_f]-[name_f]Rachel[/name_f] [name_u]Yael[/name_u]. Is that a mouthful? Haha! We would call her [name_f]Ella[/name_f] or [name_f]Ella[/name_f]-[name_u]Rae[/name_u] for short. My hubby seems to like hyphenated names. He also has a 12 year old son named [name_f]Zoe[/name_f]-[name_m]Ivor[/name_m] [name_u]James[/name_u]. I feel like it could work though?