Why do guys call each other by their last names?

Factual Questions
41

For sports it might have to do with the last name appearing in on the jersey. The coach sees someone screwing up, but can’t tell who because the guy has a helmet on and the coach has more important things to remember than numbers. So he sees the last name and yells out “Johnson! What are you doing?” Instead of yelling out “Johnny, stop that!” Then he would get four or five guys that would stop and turn when he just wanted Johnny Johnson, not Johnny Smith, Johnny Jones, and the other Johnny’s.

Of course, with hockey it’s a little different. Players will often get an “-ie” or an “-er” added on to their name. Everyone might call a guy “Rob” but on the ice he’s “Robbie.”

When I played hockey in high school first names would be made longer (if possible) using the method above. If that did not work then the last name would be shortened. No one on the team was called by the name they were known by.

42

Come to think of it, my (all-male) high school was just the opposite of the typical situation. The faculty referred to the students by first name (even over the PA system!), but we usually called each other by last names (when pronounceable).

43

In terms of continuing the tradition, possibly. However, On March 13, 1960, the Chicago White Sox unveil an important uniform innovation. The Sox’ road uniforms feature players’ names on the backs of the jerseys, marking the first time that players’ names will appear on major league uniforms. While names may have appeared earlier on other leauges or in other sports, I suspect that there is no long tradition that would have led to this as a source of the practice. As noted, above, there are novels from the nineteenth century in which the practice is common among schoolboys and the military. Whether the practice preceeds the nineteenth century, I am not sure.

44

When I used to go to a smart high school, all the guys there called me by my last name. When I transferred over to a public high school, I started getting called by my first name again. All my public school friends think that it’s weird that my Magnet school friends called me by my last name. Dunno if that has anything to do with anything.

45

I think it really is a guy thing. I have friends who go by their last name and while I might call them that when talking about them to the group, when talking directly to them, I will call them by their first name. It seems more intimate to call someone Michael than Henderson, even if Mike Bryant is across the table. Then there are those names that merit a shortening such as “chow” for Witchowski.

If I have two female friends with the same name, I’ll call them Lisa Conner and Lisa Jones but if we are all together, it’s simply Lisa for both even though it’s confusing because it seems to “guy like” for girlfriends.