Retrieving the calling method name from within a method

I don't think it can be done without tracing the stack. However, it's fairly simple to do that:

StackTrace stackTrace = new StackTrace();
MethodBase methodBase = stackTrace.GetFrame(1).GetMethod();
Console.WriteLine(methodBase.Name); // e.g.

However, I think you really have to stop and ask yourself if this is necessary.

In .NET 4.5 / C# 5, this is simple:

public void PopularMethod([CallerMemberName] string caller = null)
{
     // look at caller
}

The compiler adds the caller's name automatically; so:

void Foo() {
    PopularMethod();
}

will pass in "Foo".

This is actually really simple.

public void PopularMethod()
{
    var currentMethod = System.Reflection.MethodInfo
        .GetCurrentMethod(); // as MethodBase
}

But be careful through, I'm a bit skeptical to if inlining the method has any effect. You can do this to make sure that the JIT compiler won't get in the way.

[System.Runtime.CompilerServices.MethodImpl(
 System.Runtime.CompilerServices.MethodImplOptions.NoInlining)]
public void PopularMethod()
{
    var currentMethod = System.Reflection.MethodInfo
        .GetCurrentMethod();
}

To get the calling method:

[System.Runtime.CompilerServices.MethodImpl(
 System.Runtime.CompilerServices.MethodImplOptions.NoInlining)]
public void PopularMethod()
{
    // 1 == skip frames, false = no file info
    var callingMethod = new System.Diagnostics.StackTrace(1, false)
         .GetFrame(0).GetMethod();
}