It appears that I've caused some of you (well Bernie at least) some confusion in respect of what I call myself, and in chatting to him about it, it would appear we may all well have the same problem. The names we used, to use to talk to each other 50 years ago, may not be the ones we tend to use now!
For me, it's quite simple. When I left Aber, probably at my first job, someone who I quite possibly didn't like too much (and certainly didn't have much respect for) called me Dave for some reason, I don't know why I certainly hadn't used that name and I just felt I had to make a stand so I corrected him and said "my name is David". Having done that once, it just became the rule. My professional name was David. [Incidentally Jenny has always called me David, as has my mother.]
However for everyone pre-work days I'm still, and will always be, Dave. We meet up with school friends of mine every month - I am Dave. There are friends I've made since I left Aber - I am quite often Dave to them as well. It's something I like to extend to my friends not for people to take without asking.
Here's Bernie's comments on the same subject ...
Names are a problem. My problem started when I started working at Cambridge Econometrics, they insisted on Bernard. That was usually the reserve of my mother when she was telling me off. Anyway I got used to it but then became Bernie again when I went back to teaching. Then when I visited the USA I was always Bernard with a different emphasis, and also I have lots of French contacts to whom I am also Bernard. I like the way they pronounce it, though it would seem a bit affected to use the French/American emphasis in England. Anyway I usually change who I am according to whom I am communicating with, but sometimes there is an unavoidable inconsistency in multi-person emails!
... I'd also add that Eileen would appear to be the only one who calls him Bern, but I may be wrong in that.
So the names I know you by are frozen in a late-1960's, early-1970's time capsule. It's Andy (not Andrew), Dot (not Dorothy), Babs (not Barbara), Midge (not Margaret), Al (not Alan), Ros (not Rosalind), Tony (not Anthony - although it could be Bovey in the same way that John was called Whitelegg some times, and Neil was called Wrigley some times ... why?). Gareth was sometimes called Callan (his middle name); Dennis was occasionally Den as I recall, but Richard was always Richard, as were Nick and John (JWD). Jenny was Little Jen to distinguish her from Big Jen (Jenny Jones), and I was once-upon-a-time known as Diddy Dave ... why?
So that's it - what's in a name. You'll have to make it quite clear how you REALLY want to be addressed, otherwise it's Aber-timewarp naming that rules OK.