This is a HUGE deal. Some serious debates have come out of this topic. Pretty sure countries have fallen over it.
I grew up on the West Coast (that is a topic for another day, East Coast friends), and I think I may have called it ‘soda’. I moved to Texas (again, another topic for another day) and now I’m not really sure what to call it.
[The East/West Coast thing, and the Texas/Every-other-state thing are also huge debates. It’s almost comical sometimes. Until someone gets shot, which has happened. Over WHICH COAST you live on. Sad. But, I digress.)
Die-hard southerners call everything ‘coke’. Pepsi is coke. Sprite is coke. You ask for a coke, and they will say what kind, and you will answer with Dr. Pepper.
Go a little farther north and you get ‘soda’. Keep going and you get ‘pop’. Whatever it’s called, I don’t drink a lot of it, but when I do, I always falter a littl, then just string them together to be safe. “Yes, I’d like a sodacokepop, please.” Or sometimes I just use the actual name of the beverage when wanting a specific type, such as Sprite, but that seems to illicit an even more confused response from some.
But let’s face it – no matter what you call it, someone will give you an odd look because you said the wrong thing. What do you call sodacokepop?
something like life 
I grew up with ‘pop’ but try to say ‘soda’ now that I’m in Texas. I refuse to call everything ‘coke.’ That’s almost like saying I’m going to “love on them” (WAY too Texas for me.