The name bible for name enthusiasts, Nameberry, deems the name 📛Sydney, an "original old👴 man name" (akin to the name 📛Monroe) adopted for girls (from 📛Sidney), that has been having somewhat of a revival.
Thanks to in vogue actress and 👖jean controversy queen: Sydney Sweeney (recently crowned 'The Most Wanted Woman In America'), the name Sydney is definitely not viewed in that light now. "Cool girl actress Sydney Sweeney, of Euphoria and White Lotus, is doing a lot to burnish Sydney's image," Nameberry praises.
The name Sydney is of French origin meaning, "Saint Denis." Behind the Name explains further on Sydney: "From a surname that was a variant of the surname Sidney. This is the name of the largest city in Australia, which was named for Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney in 1788. Formerly used by both genders, since the 1980s this spelling of the name has been mostly feminine."
Sydney is #288 on the Most Popular Baby Names list for girls in 2024. "Sydney's popularity may be down but she's not out," Nameberry assures, where as "Sydney was a hot girls' name in the 1990s." California is where the most girls and women name Sydney reside.
I have a love/"hate" relationship with the name Sydney I admit. 🤷🏾♀️ I like the name Sydney because it originates from the name 📛Sidney, which is personal to me — being it is my maternal grandfather's (RIP) first name (literally an "old👴🏾 man's name" 😯). Here is where it gets tricky: my own name (I surprisingly was not named after my maternal grandfather) begins with Sid (so that is what people see/read first) but it is 📢not pronounced "Sid" as is Sidney. Yet everyone assumes it is pronounced like Sidney which is wrong and which has irked me most of my life (until very recently actually as I embraced using the stage name Sid). 😫 An ex once suggested I name our future son Sidney had we had one together, and I didn't want to tell him I was against the name! 🙅🏾♀️ Now actually, I would consider the idea 
...
With Sydney being spelled as is, it can be 'hard' and confusing. 🤔 I immediately think Sidney still and so I start writing it S-i-d usually out of habit. 🤦🏿♀️ When I see Sydney I also think of the sweeter 📛Syndee (alternative spelling of the name 📛Cindy). I do however, like how Sydney looks rather if it were spelled as its origin name Sidney (it doesn't bother me if 📛Sidney is used for a girl but on the flipside I do not like when 📛Sydney is used for a boy 😬) — the S-y-d gives it a more feminine, plus edgy look. 👌🏾
I've met one Sydney so far — a tattoo artist — and she definitely was a cool girl. 👍🏾👍🏾
Will 📛Sydney become the epitome of a 😎 "cool girl's name" in the 2020s? Quite possibly. Nameberry swears, "she's arguably still cool." I definitely think it will start to rise further up ⬆ on the baby name charts 📈 in popularity with Sydney Sweeney being so sought-after.
⭐FAMOUS & 📝NOTEWORTHY 📛SYDNEYS:
📛Sydney Simpson 💓 (daughter of the late Nicole Brown Simpson & former football player 🏈O.J. Simpson)
📛Sydney Chandler 🎥 (actress)
📛Sydney Topliffe 🎥 (actress)
📛Sydney Cole Alexander 🎥 (actress)
📛Sydney Kamlager-Dove 
(politician)
📛Sydney Aaliyah Michelle 📚 (author)
📛Sydney Madison 📚 (authors)
📛Sydney Watson ▶ (YouTuber)
📛Sydney Dyer 💉📺 (tattoo artist on reality show Ink Master)
📛Sydney Lanier 🎥 (character in the movie The Invisible Man (2020) )
📛Sydney Lemmon 🎥 (actress)
📛Sydney Carter 🏀 (former WNBA basketball player & coach)
📛Sydney Towle 💻 (internet personality)
📛Sydney Quiseng 🎤 (singer)
📛Sydney Josephson 👩❤️👩(sister of slain college student Samantha Josephson)
📛Sydney Hargrove ✍🏻 (writer)
📛Sydney Rose🌹 🎤 (singer)
📛Sydney Loofe ⚠️ (late victim of criminals🚨Bailey Boswell & 🚨Aubrey Trail)
📛Sydney "Sydney Youngblood" Ford 🎤(singer)
📛Sydney Thompson Dobell 📄🖋 (poet)
📌👀Reddit 📛namenerds🤓 Community Thread: "Sydney and Sidney for a girl?"
https://www.reddit.com/r/namenerds/comments/ur299r/sydney_and_sidney_for_a_girl/
📌📛Nameberry🍒 Forum: "Sydney"
📌STATS ON THE NAME 📛Sydney:
https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/S/SY/SYDNEY/index.html
☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Sydney: 👍 OR 💓💓💓💓💓💓/10
more than the original. The 'i' instead of the usual 'e' (✍🏾writing it feels "wrong") gives the normally classic, kinda basic 🥱 name — a more modern look 👌🏾 and some pizzazz. 💥
