I grew up in Orange County, California, and I addressed all of my friends’ parents by their first names. When I moved here to Texas in the 6th grade I was browbeaten into calling every adult here by their last name preceeded by a “Mr.” or a “Mrs.” or a “Ms.” In general I find it pretty clunky, but it’s the only form of address here.
My brother calls my parents by their first names. They aren’t too keen on it, but he does it anyway.
I’m in California, so maybe things are different around here…
The only people I’ve ever called “Mr and Ms” were school teachers and a select few elderly friends. Every time I try to call someone by their last name, they’ve told me not to. Coworkers- even bosses- introduce themselves by first name as do all of my professors. I can’t imagine anyone but a telemarketer calling me by my last name. And why should I? I was given a perfectly reasonable first name, and I have no fears that people are putting witchcraft hexes on me or whatever when they use it.
[Bart]Yeah, well welcome to the 21st cenutry, George.[/Bart]
Why do we have first names if we’re not going to let people use them? Are we playing best friends club or something?
When I was little, I just called my elders whatever was used when they were introduced to me. Generally, people in my grandparents’ age bracket tended towards Mr. and Mrs, while my parents’ friends all used their first names. My friends’ parents were a combination, which actually seemed to be based more on economic standing, oddly enough. The more “wealthy” parents were more formal. Tradition, maybe.
When I began working as a preschool teacher, it took me some time to get used to being called “Ms. Jes”. It just sounded strange coming from children, because I felt closer to their age bracket than my parents’. I got used to it, but it still sounded funny.
My friends’ kids all just call me by my first name. I am fine with it. Unless they are behaving in a disrespectful manner, I don’t see the small matter of spoken “title” as rude. I’d rather deal with a sweet kid calling me “Jes” than a tiny terror screeching “Mrs. d_redguy” any day.
It’s still weird to be called “Mrs. d_redguy” by anyone. I suppose I’ll get used to that soon too. 
I never addressed adults–teachers, my parents’ friends, etc.–by their first names. It didn’t, and doesn’t, feel weird or false. It feels graceful. I’ve gotten to know some of them, adult-to-adult, and being given “the gift of their name” meant something.
I don’t understand why in the hell social titles like “ma’am” and “sir”, “Mr.”, “Mrs.” or “Ms.” should possibly be discarded. Everybody I meet, from politicos to street people, earn that respect just by being human. First-naming people is a granted gift.
Basic respect allows for degrees of intimacy.
Veb
I spend a lot of time with kids and there isn’t one that doesn’t call me by my first name.
I’m a very informal person.
It depends on the culture, and that’s even here in the US. I was born up north in Pittsburgh, and I was raised that if I was talking to John Smith, I called him “Mr. Smith.”
Then I moved to New Orleans, and suddenly in the South, I was expected to call him “Mr. John.” It just seemed odd to me. I still prefer to call adults by their last name, it was just ingrained in me early on that that’s the respectful way to talk to an adult.
I’m 24 now, and I still do that, although getting out in the real world has helped break me of a lot of that. At one internship, my boss, the CEO of the company would flat out ignore me unless I called him “Chuck.” If I called out to him “Mr. X” he would walk right past me and keep going. It helped set up my mentality for the work force: everyone’s equal. Sure, you want to show respect for the much older members of the office, but everyone else you work with is an employee as well, so just because someone’s a few years older than you, you shouldn’t feel intimidated by them when it comes to doing your job.
Outside of that, though, I still rather call people Mr./Mrs. “Your Last Name Here”.
I feel very uncomfortable being called “Miss” or “Ms”. I’m not sure why, but it makes me feel so very old. . . My daughter’s friends calle me “Sage’s Mom”, and that’s fine.
well, i’m a stepparent, so my own kids call me by my first name most of the time (they lapse into ‘dad’ every once in a while, but usually when they want something).
as for others, most younger people i meet call me ‘Mr. Neil’ since 1)we’re in the south and 2) people have the hardest time pronouncing my last name. usually not a problem.
i’d not feel comfortable being called just ‘Neil’ because that implies an equality that just is not there.
however, YMMV.
Y’see, this is what I don’t get. I don’t feel so superior to anyone, no matter how young they are that I’d get uppity about them calling me by my first name. What’s the motivation here?
Kid: Hi Bill!
Bill: Quiet, peasant! I’ll speak to you when you acknowledge that you are lower than me!
It seems both unnecessarily ridiculous and extraordinarily self-important. Like you said though, YMMV.
At home in Canada, we used Mr. and Mrs. Lastname for unfamiliar adults, and first names for close friend of the family adults. Here, south of the Mason-Dixon line, it’s most common to say Mrs. or Miss or Mr. First Name.
When I had only been here for about a week, we went on a picnick with Lucretia and Bluesman and their kids. They called me Miss Corrine and I had to ask Lucretia what the heck that was. It really surprised me. Now it’s par for the course, and I use “Mizz” just like everyone else, for senior adults.
Growing up in Pittsburgh, I addressed most adults by their first names. This may partly be explained by the fact that I have several dozen great-uncles and aunts and probably several hundred cousins of different degrees. As a child, I rarely encountered anyone who wasn’t a relative by blood or marriage. My mother was also a teenager when I was born. Her friends were her contemporaries, so they were probably uncomfortable being addressed by an honorific when they were barely old enough to vote.
Teachers were always last name/honorific. I addressed my friend’s parents by what they preferred. I suppose 50% of them preferred last name/honorific, 50% first name. I don’t recall hearing any first name/honorific until I moved to Baltimore. I’ve encountered that mostly from African-Americans.
I prefer first name. I don’t feel that it conotates either a lack of respect or an excessive familiarity. However, if someone is more comfortable with Miss sugaree or Mrs. Last Name, it’s cool with me.
I call people by what they like to be called, but I’ve found that a surprising number will become offended by my lack of psychic insight into their preferences.
I come from a strictly first-name basis country. I grew up calling everybody - friends of my parents, teachers, commanding officers - by their first name.
Unless they preferred nicknames, of course.
We’re dealing with this right now with BabyMaeve™ (or will be in the short term). My initial reaction is the same as Guin and Veb…the default procedure is to address elders as Mr/Miss/Mrs/Ms and last name…unless specifically requested by those folks to do differently. When I was growing up…most of my parents’ contemporaries were Mr/Mrs…there were a few exceptions that preferred to be called by their furst name.
We went visiting relatives back east last week with Maeve, who is now 21 months old. I’m generally not good at figuring out weird relationships. (If Maureen is MY cousin, what is her daughter to me? And what is her daughter to MY daughter). We just ended up referring to all my cousins as Maeve’s cousins. In that case…we went by first name (here is your cousin Joe…here is your cousin Meg), so maybe I’m not real consistent…
I HATE HATE HATE being called Miss. Makes me feel about eight years old. Somehow I survived six years in Georgia where “Miss (firstname)” is a title of respect, but it set my teeth on edge every single time I was introduced that way. (I didn’t say anything about it because EVERYBODY does it there.) I see somebody said up above that they do that here, too, though I haven’t run into it. If you insist on a coutesy title, I would MUCH prefer Aunt. I had a few honorary aunts in my day. Now I call my aunt by her first name, too, but we’re not a really formal family.
I really, honestly, truly would prefer to be called by my first name, unless I am your child’s teacher or something. (I’m not a teacher, but this is theoretical.)
As a kid, I called people what was appropriate. I would never have dreamed of calling a teacher by their first name unless told to, and I don’t think I ran into one who did until college. If a friend’s mom wanted to be “Mrs.” I called her that, or whatever else she wanted. I don’t consider using a first name to imply any sort of inappropriate equity; it’s what I’m used to.
All I know is, if anyone calls me Miss Surname, I look around for someone else. I think I have been called that about twice in my entire life, by bank clerks, and it felt really odd and just ‘wrong’ both times.
I’m afraid I am one of those tiresome adults who would insist on being called by first name to a child. Sorry, but in my mind I’m not Miss Surname, I’m Jackie. It just feels odd and wrong to be called by any other name to me shrug.
I was never comfortable with the whole kids have to call adults by their last name thing in any case. It’s probably my rebellious, anti-authority punk-influenced side, but I always had a distaste for it. I don’t want to be anyone’s superior, even if they are a teeny little sprogling 
YM, may as ever, V.
My mother will always correct someone if they call her Mrs. [my last name]. “That’s my mother-in-law,” she will say. “Call my [her first name]”.
The only people I call by their last names are teachers. I’m trying hard to think of anyone else… I call my aunts, uncles and relatives by their first names (or Mom, or Nana as the case may be), my boyfriend’s mother by her first name.
And I would not appreciate someone calling me “Miss Lauren” or “Miss [my last name]”. I would even feel uncomfortable with Ms. [my last name] though that is how I prefer to be adressed in letters and such.
First names for me.
I was taught to address adults as Mr/Mrs./Ms. Firstname or Mr./Mrs./Ms. Lastname. That’s what I’m comfortable with, and that’s how I intend to teach my children, should I have any. It was part of the whole “respect” thing, I think. I address contemporaries by first name or last name, usually, but I still call adults Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. In case it’s important, I’m 18, black, from Southern Maryland, with both parents from the South.
I too was taught to use surnames - even classmates. Relatives and friends outside school could be called by their first names, though.
IMO it’s a mark of courtesy and of respect. It allows the two of you to have a professional relationship. That relationship may develop into a personal one when firstnaming is fine. If they say, “Oh, call me X”, then I’ll oblige, but it’s their choice, their gift, not mine.
At 31 I still address anyone older than me as Mr, Ms or Dr. The first time I address anyone in a business situation I use Mr or Ms and assume they will tell me if they prefer something else.
When a parent introduces me to a child by my first name I feel like she’s saying, “here is a person who has no authority over you,” to the child and “you have no authority over my child” to me. I know that some parents would prefer nearby adults to look out for the welfare of their kids and consider it appropriate if that adult exercises a little authority (such as saying STOP if the kid is doing something dangerous) and other parents would prefer nobody tell their kids what to do. To me, the way a parent lets her kids address adults tells me whether I’m dealing with a ‘takes a village’ type or a ‘don’t you talk to my kid like that’ type.