My grandfather was also named Dayton. His nickname was Dick, which, if you were born in 1910, was a thoroughly non-controversial nickname. There's Dick Clark, Dick Cheney, Dick Van Dyke, Dick Cavett, Dickey Lee. Plus Dick Diver, Dick Grayson, Dick Tracy, etc. It's a good, terse, masculine Anglo-Saxon-ish name.

My grandmother addressed him as Dick. Kinda had to, what with raising my dad, Dayton, and eventually a third-generation Dayton. My great-aunts and -uncles are a bit confusing to me, I know Grandma Viola's sister was great-aunt Ethel, and grandpa's sister was Sis, and his (half?-)brother was John (nicknamed "Bud"). And then there were uncle Art, who I think was grandma's brother, and great-aunt Fran, who I think was grandpa's half-sister.

What's perplexing is great-Aunt Fran would sometimes address Grandpa as Dayton, and other times? not as Dick because I guess that offended her sensibilities, but Richard. I can see shortening Dayton to Dick; but to re-expand it to Richard, instead of just calling him by his proper name?