My nickname, not my actual first name.
My father always preferred to be called Robert, and fought a losing battle to not be called Bob. He hates Bob, but everyone calls him that.
My son, OTOH, get called Nick a lot. He always tells anyone who calls him Nick, that he prefers Nicholas. His Granddaddy is very proud of him.
Similarly, I have only two names, a first and a surname, yet more and more, society is forcing me to list all three names on my birth certificate on all legal documents, whether or not I want the middle name. (Under American law, one does have the right to choose one’s own name, regardless of the name originally given, and it does NOT require any judicially orchestrated process.)
My first name
…unless you went to college with me then it’s Teacups 
I go by my middle name, which also happens to be a relatively common surname. When I used to DJ on the college radio station I dropped my last name and went first-middle. So if my name were Joseph Carter McFartypants I would go by Carter, but my radio name would have been “Joe Carter.”
Family uses a nickname I’ve had since I was eight. Every one else uses my first name or some variation of it. I wouldn’t mind if everyone used my nickname but some people ahem (whities) ahem have trouble pronouncing it and it annoys me when they do.
By contrast, it annoys me when people shorten my name when I introduce myself by my full name. If I meant to be referred to by the short form, that’s how I would have introduced myself.
I agree. If I’m introduced to someone and a shortened form of their name seems to be indicated, I’ll ask if I can call them that. But mostly I assume that how they introduce themselves is how they wish to be addressed.
Growing up my family called me Jake. Then I decided I preferred Jacob. It used to really bug me when people called me Jake. Some of my family and friends of the family still call me Jake. It doesn’t bother me anymore. I still prefer Jacob, however. Lately, I get called Jake Brown or Jacob Brown a lot. I have a friend who is also named Jacob/Jake Brown(different middle names), so it can get confusing. Nobody ever has called me just Brown.
All four choices above…it’s kinda complicated.
Makes one wonder what each of George Foreman’s sons prefers.
Then again, I know a family where the grandfather is … Sr,
the son is … Jr,
and the grandkid is … III.
So everyone in the family and most of his friends call him Three.
I usually ask people: Do you prefer Dan or Daniel?
I’m one of those people who thinks names are important and I always want to get it right.
When I first started at one company, one of the co-workers was named Judy. That’s how she introduced herself, and it’s what everyone called her. After a couple years, she decided that it was too “demeaning” and she preferred to be called Judith. Don’t know if her name really ever was Judith, but nothing prevents her from adopting it. Problem was, she became insufferable with her entire attitude in general, part of which included the name change.
So we did oblige her. But we started calling each, in her presence, by the same suffix. I was Marc-ith, there was Billith, Paulith, Bobith, etc. Which only served to agitate her even more. Especially when Josie (short for Josephine) joined in the fun and became Josephineth. It was a joy to watch.
Funny, in telling this, it reminds me that it was the same place where another co-worker just didn’t fit in well with the others. Which led to <someone> tacking a 3x5 index card to the company bulletin board, said card including a safety pin attached to a dangling unrolled condom, and crudely printed on the card was “<Jane Doe>, Entertainer of the Year Award.” But that’s another topic.
I go by my first name and don’t care if people shorten it to the nickname. I hate when people tack on my middle name, Anne. Please, just Firstname, not Firstname-Anne. I was given a nickname when my nephew was very young and couldn’t pronounce my name, but it’s been more than twenty years and only a few people still call me that name. For a while, when I worked in security, everyone was referred to by their last name, so I got used to being called that too.
Steve, or Hat Guy.
There should probably have been a poll option for a diminutive - Steve is NOT the same as Stephen.
Short form of first name, so Nick for Nikola ( nobody calls me by full name except my mother ). The only problem with my full first name is that it is outside the norm in the US and marketers and the like tend to assume I’m female. I get a lot of junk mail addressed to Ms. Nikola _______.
Just another cross to bear.
That is why it is multiple choice. If you want to give context, then you post as you did.
Long version of my first name at work, short version with family and long time friends. I know it seems kind of flaky, but in the past couple of years I suddenly wanted to go by my full first name in professional settings.
At lot of times at work we refer to others by their initials as well. Just a little quirk introduced by our team lead that stuck.
I didn’t respond to the poll because I’m not sure how to.
At work when I answered my desk phone I said the diminutive of my first name along with my last name. My signature is of the complete first name, middle initial, and last name.
In college I was most often called by my last name.
My friends and family refer to me by the diminutive of my first name.
I rarely if ever write or say my middle name.
I go by my middle name. Most people do know that it is my middle name but tend to forget that until it comes up in coversation. It is a HUGE pain in the rear for doing banking or legal stuff. I am named after my two grandmothers and the “flow” of the two names works best in this order, but there was a cousin in my generation already being called by my father’s mother’s name, so I am called by my mother’s mother’s name.