Are you black now?
I live in The South. I had never heard this until I moved here. It is common usage here.
Denver: it’s a common form of address in schools when referring to teachers and aides. The principal’s first name is still a secret, however, so there appears to be a level of formality that it’s not yet able to breach. But I must admit when I first heard the usage i was looking for a Southerner.
I call my boss Mr. (Lastname), but oddly it’s a passive agressive insult. We’re all supposed to be on a first name basis here.
In the 70’s, kids in SE Wisconsin (Waukesha, Pewaukee) would address adults they were friendly with this way. Teachers were always referred to by MR/Miss/Mrs. Lastname.
Zing! 
I occasionally work with someone who does this and it drives me nuts. She is a white woman in her 30’s. I don’t think she is a Southerner by birth. I think she does it to be cutesy and I guess that’s why it bugs me.
I am Miss Tonya to my friends children, and my child likewise refers to the friends as Miss Firstname. For us, it’s sort of a respect bridge between Mrs.Lastname and the (non-familial) Aunt Firstname.
It bugs me when one of my kid’s classmates just calls by my first name. That seems to suggest we’re peers, and we’re not. But calling me by my last name seems too formal for someone sprawled on my floor playing video games and drinking my koolaid, too. So, it’s Miss firstname instead.
I sometimes do it when greeting other adults at work, now that I think about it. It’s respectful but not formal, the boss is Mrs.Lastname but coworkers are Miss Firstname.
For the record, white and northern, but my area’s full of transplanted southern culture so that’s probably where we got it.
It’s quite common in Vietnam too. I also know a Portuguese guy who does it to me, but I think he’s just being cute.
From my time in the Old South, I’d say it’s a southern thing, but there’s something else.
Does anyone remember the old kids’ shows Ding Dong School and Romper Room?
DDS was a network program, and the kindly old headmistress who hosted the program was called “Miss Francis.” In reality, she was Dr. Francis Horwich, with a PhD in Education.
RR was a format that was locally produced, with local kids and a “teacher.” I can’t speak for every market the show ran, but in every city where I saw it, the teacher was always called “Miss Firstname.”
In my experience, preschoolers of all ethnicities are encouraged to call their teachers “Miss Amy” or whatever. Once they get to first grade, however, they are encouraged to call their teachers the more formal “Miss Jones” or whatever.
I have heard people people of all ages and ethnicities use it when they are greeting someone that they are good friends with. Ex: “Hey Miss Amy! How long have you been here?”.
Another Southerner (South Louisiana) chiming in to say that it’s common for people of all ethnicities to say “Ms ______” around here. I’m 21, and it was only in the past couple of years that I realized that not everyone in America said this, mainly due to one of my “Northerner” (West Virginia) friends complaining about how funny it sounded. I still think it’s the best form of address, especially for talking with people my parents’ age or older with whom I’m friendly. I also get called “Ms” by people who are my age or older, but that tends to be more of an expression of affection than a proper title.
Ugh! I work in the medical field, and I always address our patients as “Mr/Ms/Mrs Lastname” regardless of their age, unless they’ve specifically told me to use their first name.
I use “Mr/Mrs Lastname” for mine, as does one of the other in-laws.
When I lived in Texas as a kid, my friends used to call my father “Doctor [Firstname]”.
I should add, I mean my white friends.
Yeah, and in boys’ single-sex high schools (especially snooty ones), teachers call students by their surname only, unadorned. And the teachers are all “Sir!”.
kunilou, that was the form of address (Miss Kim) in the Australian version of Romper Room which ran, IIRCm from the 60s to the 80s. Maybe it’s standard.
I also like it, and find it both friendly AND respectful, which is nice.
It is also very similar to the practice in many Spanish-speaking cultures of using “*Don * Firstname” and "Doña * Firstname" as a form of address to seniors in age or social rank. It is considered highly respectful and courteous() while implying a level of caring and/or of identifying, as opposed to “Señor Apellido” which implies something of a “cold”, strictly-business dynamic.
(* Literally, it was “courtly” address before it got democratized – originally it was the equivalent of “Lord/Lady So-and-So” or “Sir/Dame So-and-So”; e.g. the king of Spain is Don Juan Carlos)
It’s definitely a Southern thing. My best friend, though, doesn’t like it, so my daughter calls him “Dude” (his choice).
Yep, it’s Southern. In my experience, in Georgia and Louisiana, it’s generally applied to older people. I don’t like being called Miss Firstname myself, but I know it’s a term of respect so if a kid calls me that I don’t complain. It makes me feel old.
I work with several older women who are commonly Miss Firstname to everybody, even the managers. And they’re all married. It’s purely a courtesy title.
My kids use this form of address with pretty much all adults who aren’t Mr./Mrs/Ms. Last name. My wife and I are both originally from the north and didn’t use it growing up, but we’ve raised our kids primarily in the south. We think of it as respectful affection, I guess.
I’ve actually caught them being mortified when they slip and omit the Mister or Miss and address an adult as just ‘firstname’.