Although one thing that is true of the movies that is lampooned in the spy parody show "Archer", is that Bond doesn't seem to understand how to be a secret agent. Secret agents shouldn't go around drawing attention to themselves the way that Bond (and his parody Sterling Archer) do. And they certainly shouldn't go around introducing themselves using their real names!
The fact that he’s known seems to be inconsistent throughout the movies. Tiffany Case apparently knew who he was but not what he looked like, but a lot of other people had to look him up after giving his real name.
He also does have a cover in some films, like St John Smythe in A View to a Kill
