Do you call people by their given name or their surname?

[bongman]

i have different names for various social settings. To my family i'm Christopher, to my teachers and people i don't know that well i'm Chris and to my close mates i'm mason (my surname).

 

[n3ophy7e]

Considering I live with 3 guys all named Mike.

That's pretty uncanny in itself

 

[mav3rick]

Hmm, come to think of it, I've never had a friend with their last name as a nickname or what they get called, haha I find that bizzare for some reason.. Anyway, I digress!

With whatever name the person introduces themselves as, is what I go with in 90% of introductions.. If I'm meeting the parents, grandparents etc of a friend or partner, I always say Mr/Mrs Smith blah blah, to be polite and respectful.. If I met a Daniel, Benjamin, Michael etc, I don't automatically go to Dan, Ben, Mike and I never use a nickname with someone if they haven't said it's cool haha.. People can get pretty narky about names and such, haha..

 

[AmorRoark]

^ From what I've read in this thread I think using a surname as a nickname is more common in the States.