First off thank you to everyone who helped us out and made this a lot easier than it was for us last time. Hubby and I have successfully chosen a name and now we just need to decide on a spelling. He likes [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] while I prefer [name_u]Sidney[/name_u]. Middle name is [name_f]Grace[/name_f] 
I like [name_u]Sidney[/name_u] to me it’s a name verse [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] which is a place. I also like the shared i in [name_f]Willa[/name_f] and [name_u]Sidney[/name_u].
I love, love, love the name [name_u]Sidney[/name_u]. I wanted to use it for our baby girl, but H vetoed. I know [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] is the preferred spelling for a girl, but I would’ve used [name_u]Sidney[/name_u]. The ‘y’ spelling is legitimate, but I always think of it in the same vein as all of the trendy name spellings people come up with now, where they just replace an ‘i’ with a ‘y.’
I agree with the shared “i” which is one of the reasons I prefer it over [name_u]Sydney[/name_u]. Hubby believes [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] is the proper way and [name_u]Sidney[/name_u] looks like we can’t spell but I disagree.
I usually don’t like when people use y’s in place of i’s in name spellings, it seems trendy and a little tacky. However, [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] is one instance where I much prefer it spelt with the y because it looks like the girl version of the name, whereas [name_u]Sidney[/name_u] (my great uncle’s name) looks like a boy spelling.
I agree — I tend to associate [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] with the lovely Australian city and [name_u]Sidney[/name_u] with respectable old men (like [name_u]Sidney[/name_u] Poitier).
Have you considered [name_f]Sidony[/name_f] or [name_f]Sidonie[/name_f]?
Agreed. [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] for me.
I personally prefer [name_u]Sidney[/name_u]: it is sleeker, elegant and very stylish. [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] is still lovely, but too reminiscent of the place, and the ‘y’ feels more masculine and less classic. [name_f]Lovely[/name_f] choice though! Good luck.
[name_u]Sidney[/name_u] looks like a boy’s name to me, while [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] looks more feminine. If I saw [name_f]Willa[/name_f] and [name_u]Sidney[/name_u] in a sibset, I think I might assume that [name_u]Sidney[/name_u] was a boy.
What do you think of [name_f]Signy[/name_f]/[name_f]Signe[/name_f]? It’s pronounced like [name_u]Sidney[/name_u]/[name_u]Sydney[/name_u] with a g instead of d.
[name_m]Even[/name_m] though I usually dislike random y’s added to names to feminize them, I’ve only known female Sydneys and male Sidneys, so the gender difference there seems a bit established. I do like [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] a lot for a girl–I was an Alias fan, so there you go! [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] is lovely 
I know a female [name_u]Sidney[/name_u] who must be about 12 by now. I always preferred that spelling… it seemed so old-fashioned and quirky, not trendy and place-namey like [name_u]Sydney[/name_u]. But, I’m throwing both [name_u]Sidney[/name_u] and [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] overboard in favor of [name_f]Sidonie[/name_f] as suggested by @sugarplumfairy. It goes so perfectly with [name_f]Willa[/name_f]!
I would think [name_u]Sidney[/name_u] was a boy and so will almost everyone else. So, your daughter will have to correct people for the rest of her life that her name is not spelled [name_u]Sydney[/name_u]. And since middle names are often left out, [name_f]Grace[/name_f] won’t be of any help. On paper, she will just be ‘[name_u]Sidney[/name_u] Lastname’ and people will think she’s a man. If you’re OK with that then go with [name_u]Sidney[/name_u]
I prefer [name_u]Sydney[/name_u]. [name_f]Willa[/name_f] and [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] make an adorable set.
Maybe it’s just me, but I have to admit the only “i” [name_u]Sidney[/name_u] I ever met was too a boy. I just prefer the I it’s probably just me being weird. As for the other suggestions [name_f]Sidonie[/name_f] could work being that I live in cajun country where french-ish accents are still around and it sounds lovely with that, but for the most part I just see this being pronounced completely differently than I do in my head. I feel like it needs that little accent when you say it. For [name_f]Signe[/name_f], [name_f]Willa[/name_f] was actually going to be a [name_f]Dagnie[/name_f] for quite some time so it makes me think back to that. I may just let my husband have his [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] especially since at the drugstore yesterday they had those cute stickers you buy with your names on it and [name_u]Sydney[/name_u] was there staring right at me. Maybe it’s a sign.