I am having trouble deciding which one sounds better, if we have a boy his name will be [name]David[/name]. ([name]Grace[/name] is to honor my mother.) (Last name sounds like Furby, but with a K.)
[name]Natalie[/name] [name]Grace[/name]
[name]Audrey[/name] [name]Grace[/name]
or
[name]Vanessa[/name] [name]Grace[/name]
Also what about [name]Susanna[/name] [name]Grace[/name]?
My first pick would be [name]Natalie[/name] [name]Grace[/name], followed by [name]Audrey[/name]. [name]Vanessa[/name] is pretty, a tiny bit dated maybe, but with [name]Grace[/name] there are too many “s” sounds.
With a last name ending in an ee sound, I’d personally avoid both [name]Natalie[/name] and [name]Audrey[/name] (and any first name ending in an ee sound), because the repetitive ee ending sounds in [name]Natalie[/name] “Furby” and [name]Audrey[/name] “Furby” sound too rhymey.
Because of this, I’d go with [name]Vanessa[/name] “Furby.”
(I think [name]David[/name] sounds great with your last name.
Another vote for [name]Vanessa[/name]. [name]Natalie[/name] and [name]Audrey[/name] are more stylish right now, but border on trendy. [name]Vanessa[/name] was never trendy and retains a feminine, classic feel.
I would keep the middle name [name]Grace[/name], but not use any of the above first names. [name]Natalie[/name] and [name]Audrey[/name] are very pretty, but I wouldn’t use them with a last name ending in “y”. To me, [name]Vanessa[/name] is very dated. So here is a list of possibilities. I am listing popular names since [name]Natalie[/name] and [name]Audrey[/name] are so popular:
[name]Emma[/name]
[name]Ava[/name]
[name]Anna[/name]
[name]Ella[/name]
[name]Georgia[/name] (hipster name)
[name]Hannah[/name]
[name]Isla[/name] (not so popular now, but will be soon!)
[name]Jenna[/name]
[name]Keira[/name]
[name]Lila[/name] (see [name]Isla[/name])
[name]Madeline[/name]
[name]Olivia[/name]
[name]Stella[/name] (see [name]Isla[/name])
[name]Susannah[/name] (not as popular)
[name]Tessa[/name], can be a nn for [name]Theresa[/name]. I love [name]Tessa[/name]!
I have a suspicion that [name]Vanessa[/name] has been more popular in my neck of the woods than it has been in the [name]East[/name]. I have known many young Vanessas. It may have been the [name]Jocelyn[/name] of the '80’s. ([name]Jocelyn[/name] is a very popular name in [name]CA[/name] right now.)
I know that by using a fn that ends in the ‘ee’ sound that it might be a little over done, but who is to say that if I name my daughter with a fn that ends in an ‘a’ sound, that she won’t marry someone in 20 years with a last name that ends in that same sound…So it doesn’t bother me that the fn name might end in ‘ee’ and the last name currently ends in ‘ee’ because things could always change when she gets married, plus I just love the names!
Granted, we can’t control what a daughter’s married name will be or how her first name will sound with it, but we can control the flow and sound of a daughter’s given first and last names.
As people pointed out in another post, some daughters may never get married, and others may opt to keep their maiden name after marriage. Whether that’s important to you is totally an individual thing, and it’s of course important that you love the name you choose.