Just curious what the appeal of using a surname as a first name is and why it's so popular among Canada/US?

It's just one of those things. You like some names, i like others. Some names could work as first names even when others don't agree. I love the name Brennan for a boy. I think as long as the name is what you like and not a name that is easily made fun of, spelled wrongly, and on the correct gender it should be okay. (like i'm not saying addison can't be on a girl, because it tends to be looked at more of as a girls name but don't name your daughter Micheal. like ryan is okay because that is used sometimes, but David would not be okay)