I would think the career would be "Scoundrel" and the Smuggler would be a Specialization. The Thief is a type of scoundrel as is the smuggler and the pilot could be considered "scoundrelish" (the whole arrogant flyboy thing). Not a big deal at all, but it seemed weird to me.

You are not the only one.

I think that people have latched onto the term (much like with bounty hunter), and it's become a strong enough part of the brand that you have to use it.

The names are meant to be evocative -- there's some art in choosing them. Thus, they won't feel right for everyone all the time. Just look at what they offer and ignore the name if it bugs ya'.

I had the exact same thought, Muffin. Smuggler is a type of scoundrel, it seems to me.

They just wanted to Han Solo. I totally get it.

No weirder than D20's Noble as a class.

I totally get what the OP is saying, but I also get some of the replies that the career names are meant to be iconic. At first I'd have thought that a Bounty Hunter was a type of Hired Gun and that Survivalist ought to go with Explorer, but with the way the game's designed and with the ease of picking up spec trees outside of careers, I think I'm alright with the set-up. The fact that there are no hard set classes actually makes character development pretty wide open, which I like.

They just wanted to Han Solo. I totally get it.

Han was also referred to as a scoundrel. In the end it doesn't matter, it's just odd.