I’m one of three Brians and a Ryan at my job. Last names are pretty much required to avoid confusion. The same thing happened at school a lot because of a nasty propensity for parents in the early 80s to use Brian (or Ryan, which sounds the same even to my practiced ears).
In one high school history class, there were three Brians, two Ryans, and a Brianne. Just about impossible to let your mind wander, it always seemed like somebody was calling your name!
It would make me feel like the building superintendent from “One Day At A Time”.
I get called by my last name all the time. First and middle are John and Michael, and for a very long time those were both extremely popular names. Usually one of 6 Mikes or 4 Johns. So I get called just “Turk” or “Turkmike”. Oddly, the better someone knows me, the more likely it is that he will call me “Turk”. There are other Mikes at work who get the same treatment.
No. Unless it’s preceeded by “Mr.”
it would bother me, yes.
it’s rude to call someone by their last name only (without a prefix of any sort).
It’s more like a bark than name, if you ask me.
I had a boyfriend (eons ago) that everyone, including me, called by his last name. He was in the Coast Guard and as his first name was a pretty common name, there was likely another on the boat/ship that shared it and they went by last name to distinguish between each other. I liked his last name, it was cool.
Me? I’ve never really liked my first name and it took me years to get to the shortened version I use now, mind you not everyone uses it, but I’m training folks as I meet them.(Parents and siblings are near impossible to re-train.)
My original last name was the same as a brand of beer. Since I was seemingly invisible in my teen years I didn’t have to listen to fellow class- and bus-mates sing the jingle to me all the time. My higher profile younger sisters on the other hand… (May explain a few of the fight they got into in school.)
Now…if you look at my username (Catnoe) you’ll see the first half is my preferred first name and the last half is my current last name(16 years sunday last!!!). I have heard that name pronounced a half dozen different ways. We (the hubby and I) pronounce it as the negative word ‘NO’.
So, to call either of us by our last name would sound a little silly ('Noe!, Hey!, Noe!) unless a title of some kind preceeds it.
I’ve had several bosses who called my by my last name, even when I’m the only one with my first name in the office. This happens far less now that I’m in school again.
I think it’s because I have a fairly unusual last name and people get so excited when they finally learn to pronounce it that they want to call me by it. Or maybe it’s something else…who knows.
My last name is ‘Waitt’ (promounced ‘wait’, no the extra t doesn’t turn it into Wyatt or What or anything else).
People shout it out quite often to me, I’m not sure if they’re shouting out my last name so that I stop and wait, or if they’re just shouting out ‘wait’.
Heh
No one has ever called me by my last name alone, and quite frankly it’d be quite strange if someone did. Most people use the first syllable of my first name, mainly because its easier to pronounce than my entire name.
It’s little comfort that this exact thought crosses my mind everytime your last name is mentioned.
Schlitz?
Schaefer?
Coors?
Michelob?
Pabst Blue Ribbon?
I have to say that I don’t much like it. I mind less if it’s preceded by Mr., Bro., or Elder but I prefer to be called by my first name or my nickname. I never liked it at all when teachers in school addressed me that way, but it was okay for the coach to do it.
When I served as a missionary for the LDS church, everyone is Elder this or Sister that and when you talk about each other it’s almost always without the title. That never bothered me because it was part of the whole picture.
If my boss or a coworker referred to me by last name only I’d take them to task for it.
I don’t mind the last name thing as much as being called Mr (first name). That has always been a pet peeve of mine. I mean, you know my last name, either call me Mr. (last name) or just by my first name. Either is fine. But Mr. (first name) seems to indicate that you don’t really give a crap. And it’s not an issue of pronunciation or anything. Both names are very simple. Drives me crazy!
Yeah, i think it’s mainly happens within the Guy Circle. Like for instance, my boyfriend Jarrett has a friend Jerrad and one named Gerard, so last naming is easier. Sometimes, however it doesn’t work out. There are 2 guys with the last name Myers. They both go by Myers. One guys last name is Brecheisen and I think it would just be easier to call him by his first name.
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I’ve gone by my surname since Kindergarten. Oddly enough, since it is a rather old-fashioned name, there were two Ann’s all through school, so we went by last names like the guys, for a while. Eventually the last names got shortened until my grade 8 class was:
Garni Gal, Aunty Ann, Chet, Jard, Ed, Bruiser, Psycho, Bird Brain, Heidi Ho, Hussey Girl, Shelly, Wil, and three others I can’t remember off-hand.
My younger brother also always went by last name, but he was Garno, and I was Garni. His stuck a bit more though, to the point where a friend of his called to ask for a ride back to school, and just before she hung up, she asked me what his first name was - she’d known him for 4 years.
At my great-aunt’s 80th birthday, a few of her old friends from nursing showed up looking for “Garni”. Obviously, it is a long-standing tradition in my family to not only go by last name, but also a shortened version of our last name.
Personally, I’d far sooner go by my last name than some of the other nasty things I’ve been called! When I get married, I’ve already decided to keep my name, even though I have to spell it for everyone.
I can’t hear it, so I don’t mind…they have to use a sign for my first name, so that’s quite alright…
No one calls me by my last name, but it would not bother me. Know if I had the last name of Darling, I would insist on it, especially the women, sans the Mr.
“How do you feel about being called only your last name?”
I’d like to see them try.
Karolina Mierzejewska-ZaniesienkoNope, no one has ever called me by my last name (or my siblings)… that may be due to the fact that it’s a one-syllable Chinese last name. In fact, it would sound weird.
F_X
I love it. “Lastname!” to my friends, “Miss Lastname” formally. I actually find being addressed “Firstname” to be sometimes a little patronising, especially if it’s in a situation where “Miss Lastname” would be more polite. If you’re selling me something, or if you’re my bank, then it’s “Miss Lastname”. Ta.
I also don’t like being excessively addressed in conversation. You know the way people will talk to you, and keep on using your name even though they already have your attention? “So, Firstname, these are the documents you need, and this, Firstname, is a note of specific style points for this publication, although we are obviously using the house style, is that OK, Firstname. Now, Firstname, try to keep it simple and straightforward, because I do notice that people have a tendency to get too verbose and spoil the clarity of what they’re writing.”
I don’t have any negative associations to being addressed by my last name alone. No grade school gym coaches or anythign like that. It’s very much a pally, matey, chummy sort of thing. All lads together. Like Biggles.
What ho!