I knew a man with whom I had little in common, and he didn't go by a short name because his name was the short version. His name was Geoff but it wasn't short for Geoffrey and the reason was, his father's name was Arthur Edward and he was always Ed, Ned or Ted, so he said, "Okay, let's not give our kids middle names and let's give them the shortened versions." I remember, I went to school with two guys called Ben, but one was short for Benjamin and one was just Ben.

I don't believe that you should take the liberty of calling a person by the shortened version of their name, but if a person, male or female, says, "My name's Alex," call them Alex. If they say, "My name's Alexander or Alexandra," call them that, and if they say, "My friends call me, Alex, or Ally, or Sandy," what they're saying is, "Call me Alex, Ally or Sandy."

Do I have a short version of my name? Well, yes, but it depends upon the context. I don't mind being called Peter or Pete. Usually, my friends call me Pete.