I admire your decisiveness on the email branding. I own a few domains I could use for such a thing, but I'm still trying to figure out the best local-part.
Consider the possibilities! Sure, you could go classic and timeless, like yours, with FirstName@. But what about cool and terse, like initial@firstnamelastname.com? Or something unique and artisanal (that will hopefully never get old), like io@firstnamelastname.com?
(I've even seen a few people do hello@firstnamelastname.com, though I could never bring myself to do such a thing.)
I have a domain hack of my name so I use firstname@firstnamelastna.me
I wish I could get just lastna.me or lastname.com but I share the name with someone who's worked at icann, google and the white house at various points. I never had a shot.
For long names I'd suggest the [a-z][0-9][a-z].tld abbreviated form. Those three char domains with a digit tend to be readily available, don't command premium pricing, and are very convenient when you need to type an address in or verbally tell someone how to contact you.
that's been a big thinker for me as well; wth no real solution yet..
first@firstlast.example seem rather redundant; like saying "John John Doe". I guess if it was a business it would make more sense; like "John, owner of John Doe Inc." and "Bob, assistant for John Doe Inc." but for a personal domain... eh.
Similarly mail@ email@ seem 'too obvious' since.. of course it's email? Directional local parts like talkto@ to@ only make sense for inbound-only or outbound-only.
I do like io@! hello@, contact@, note@, or communique@ also seem more neutral but at this point I'm getting dizzy lol.
first@last.example seems more simple in retrospect but also harder to get.
Consider the possibilities! Sure, you could go classic and timeless, like yours, with FirstName@. But what about cool and terse, like initial@firstnamelastname.com? Or something unique and artisanal (that will hopefully never get old), like io@firstnamelastname.com?
(I've even seen a few people do hello@firstnamelastname.com, though I could never bring myself to do such a thing.)