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NIV John 1:40-42
40. Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.
41. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ).
42. And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter ).

Before..........

The argument that Jesus didn't rename Simon is novel to me. (if you can give me a link to a more detailed apologetic, I would appreciate it.)

Nevertheless, the argument doesn't seem to hold. If Simon "Rock" was known as Simon "Rock" beforehand, why would Jesus say "You will be called 'Rock'"?

However, if John is simply giving context to his readers by identifying which particular Simon he is writing about, then the words of Jesus make sense.

Secondly, is there any historical evidence that Peter was a common name at the time? My understanding is that it would have been blasphemous (as "Rock" was a metaphor reserved for God) and therefore extremely unlikely. This also underscores that the act of Jesus renaming Simon is highly significant (which was biblically significant to begin with because renaming indicates claiming).