It is interesting that as nails become more and more modern, they begin to resemble the original hand made spikes. Of the two little finishing brads in my hand, the one on the left is a hand cut one from yesteryear and the one on the right is a finishing nail from a nailing gun rack. To work like a line of staples, the head has gone back from round to the original flat shape.
Don't just grab any nail for the job at hand. Take a few minutes at the renovation centre and see what is available, and that will only be part of what is being made today. The shafts have special coatings or grooves to hold in different situations. The heads have different shapes. The metal itself is made of different things to be compatible with the material you are nailing, from soft brass brads to ridged concrete nails and from aluminum to steel to stainless steel.
A couple of mismatches to avoid. Galvanized nails should not be used with copper and Aluminum nails should not be used with pressure treated wood. In both cases you get bad electro-chemical reactions that will corrode either the nail or the stuff being nailed.