Halflings. I actually started playing D&D before I was familiar with Tolkien, so they've always been halflings for me.
Totally this!
Hobbits belong in Middle-Earth, and rightly so.
Halflings are forever blazed in my mind by Jeff Dee's illustration in the original Expert book. So very NOT the plump "comfort loving Tolkien hobbit."
Nor do they EVER where shoes (unless they're enchanted boots that magically form to their hair-covered feet, of course and even then, they are uncomfortable in them. But enchanted boots is enchanted boots, after all

.
Corn-rows, square" ears and snug outfits/boots to define a "halfling"? NO THANK YOU very much! Bushy hairy feet and slightly pointed ears FTW!
Naturally, the "halfling" term is derogatory. As Bilbo (or one of 'em) says somewhere, "I'm not a halfling, I'm a whole hobbit."
That being said, "hobbit" or not, the sentiment is valid. I HIGHLY encourage all GMs to give a societal name to any 'halfling" people...a communal/racial name/term that is their own for their species. "Halfling" is a purely stature-related term used by the "big folk."
And that's my ruling on Halfling v. Hobbit. The Supreme Court (of Orea) agreed with this ruling in a vote of three to two (though I did have to pay off the one nasty orc judge, but regardless...).
--Steel Dragons