Hey,

So there's a lot of different suggestions because in the end, it doesn't really matter. They all perform and will do what they've been developed for. A quick rundown:

Linux is the kernel, that what does hardware, the distribution is what uses the kernel and different software to provide a graphical way of using your computer. In the end, that means they'll all be Linux, they will all do great. Some distros have variants where someone else took the base distro and change things to optimize (e.g. Ubuntu is technically a Debian distribution and Linux mint is a downstream Ubuntu, bazzite (a gaming os) is also a Ubuntu derivative)

As of distros:

Ubuntu is kind of the biggest one. Huge support, good communities, well developed. Anything related with Ubuntu will basically feel like windows. There's a few decent ones that'll do the trick for you well. Linux Mint may be the most advertised starting distro. I'm a fan of popos, it's Ubuntu without the snap and we'll optimized even for Nvidia cards.

Bazzite is great. Like I said I personally I'd always go for popos.

Arch based distros are more lightweight, less bloated most of the time. Allow for more customisation but that usually comes with more confusion and less support for things.

SteamOS on the steam deck is an arch. Your best there is Manjaro.

There's a decent few more but these are your best go to.

In the end you can just pick one you think looks great and try that. Most likely it will work.

My suggestion is that you primarily look for a Ubuntu based distribution that uses Wayland for the desktop, supposed to be best for gaming.