It is a drone, but not that lazy usually

While I agree there are a lot of negative connotations to the word drone, it is in reality a drone.  Public perception already calls it a drone, and so does Merriam Webster.  "An unmanned aircraft or ship guided by remote control or onboard computers"

We can't avoid it, but we sure can embrace it.  Every time I am using my Phantom 3 in public I get several people who ask me questions.  I always take the time to answer the questions and to show them.  I especially make sure to show them what the camera sees, and more importantly what it doesn't.

rayrokni Posted at 2015-8-27 19:27
lol, ive seen that before and funny thing is, i knew someone was going to reply with that video.
i ...

I just saw it a couple days ago, thought it fit your comment.  

Lol,  agreed but.... Anything that has multi rotors will forever be called a drone from now on.   

While visiting with my son who was staying at a state park in Missouri, I approached a group of State Park Ranger and asked if it would be alright to fly my Phantom in the park. One of them asked what it was and I told them it was a quad copter and another said a "Drone", and proceeded to tell me their was no law in Missouri that they were aware of that prohibited someone from flying in the State parks here, and that furthermore that that was an outdoor entertainment function and that was what the State Parks in Missouri were for. All the other Rangers agreed and were very interested in seeing the video when it was done. I might question this if it had only been the local enforcement but as their was a rather large gathering going on at the time, the troop I was talking to were from many other parts of the State including the St Louis area.  Happy Days I can fly in the State Parks!

I think the word Drone is here to stay in the public mind and rather than trying to change the name it is probably easier to change public perception, which is also an up hill battle.
I suppose you could use the pet breed issue whereby a lot of people keep animals as pets, some are nice breeds and some are not so nice breeds according to the uneducated about those different breeds.  Some breeds get bad press and some breeds get good press, some owners get good press and some get bad press.  There are various breeds of Drones, unfortunately public perception in some areas is good and in other areas its bad, but getting people to understand the different breeds of drones is key.
A lot has been discussed about privacy, and what the camera can actually see and comparisons have been made with google maps, google street view, spy satellites, mobile phone cameras etc etc..  However, those things were sold to the public as good and helpful things, rightly or wrongly, and were widely accepted.  Unfortunately drones were introduced as destructive and invasive things to the public across the world.
If you build a 6ft wall/fence around your property, it is an indication that you want privacy, now if you saw someone with a camera next door looking over your wall you would automatically assume they are taking pictures of your property or you and you would challenge that behavior, even thought they were actually about to photograph/film the firework display in the nearby park or a nice sunset from their own property. Once you knew their intentions, you would most likely be happy with that.  If a helicopter is flying low or hovering near or over your property you will go out to see what is going on, but you may never know  as you can't go and ask the pilot, so in a way is the same for the drone.
Lots of good ways have already been suggested of how to help change this public perception, but I think there is still a lot of mileage in keeping within the current regulations and by doing so avoiding situations where the press can influence negatively on public perception.  There are those pilots out there who will continue to break rules, just like everything in our society, but we need more good stories than bad about our drones usefulnes to change public perception.