How can I change my in-game playername?

Is it tied purely to my Steam profile name, or can I set my in-game name independently?

In CS Source you used to be able to change the name drectly form the console with a 'name' command.

Ideally I'd like to be able to have he in-game name totally separate from my steam profile name as changing that around will confuse people on my Friends list.

Your name within Counterstrike: Global Offensive is tied to your Steam display name. This can be changed. This is discussed in this forum thread, which explains the various methods tried so far to force a name change.

To change your name within Steam, click on the little arrow next to your name in the Steam friend's list and select "Change Profile Name" from the bottom of the menu that appears:

This will pop up the account settings window, which will allow you to change your name. As you've pointed out, this will change your name as you appear to your friends within Steam, as well as in any Steam game that supports it.

1. step: Search in your game folder the REV.ini file in the same place where the csgo.exe is
2. step: Edit the file then search the player name= line and write your name after the equal sign. Save and enjoy

PS: If this is not enough for namechange after that, search the game config.cfg file- then search and write the name "cs.i4vn.com" -> name "*" *=any name you want Save and play