I'm going to add to my answer because you brought up some fair points.
The problem with
Smith isn't that it's popular as a surname; it's that it's
the generic surname. That's why I think it falls so flat as a first name (on a boy or girl, and I brought up a boy because I met one). I agree with you that inherently hating a name just because it's popular or a surname doesn't necessarily make sense, and normally that's criticism I'd ignore, but
Smith is a special case where it's beyond just "common", I think.
--
"We are all horrible and wonderful and figuring it out." - Harris Wittels