Dr. ‹First Name›: a good nickname or a "professional cancer"?

Going by "Dr. FirstName" is just confusing. If people aren't familiar with you, they will think it is your last name. If they do know you, it doesn't seem more casual, just odd.

It depends on the context and culture, but in the US it is standard to go by either "Dr. LastName" or just "FirstName." Like Solar Mike mentioned, a shortened form like "Dr. Initial" is sometimes used for students to refer to you.

One of my friends chose to have students call him "Dr. R" (R was the initial of his first name) - he had a huge amount of respect from the students and his colleagues : personally, it's not the name that garners respect, but the attitude, character and spirit of the person.

Do what feels right for you - respect is earned and not necessarily based on a title alone - IMHO...

I have some colleagues whose family name is almost never pronounced correctly by many nationalities (with students from over 90 different countries this is normal for us...), then some easy form of Dr and first name or initial is very common with no detriment to respect.

I have a doctorate. Well into our marriage right after my wife got hers our daughter happened to answer the telephone when a caller asked to speak to "Dr. Bolker". Without missing a beat she asked "which one?" Now she and her brother are Drs. Bolker too and no one mixes us up.

Don't worry about sharing both the title and the name with your father.