History Main / LastNameBasis

In other shows, usually based on a shared workplace, characters refer to each other by surnames only. Nobody ever calls Series/{{House}} by his given name, Greg, including his best friend, whom he calls Wilson. Most of the characters on ''{{CSI}}'' call Grissom by his surname, as they do Brass, Hodges, and Ecklie. Accordingly, fans refer to such characters by their singular surnames, sometimes to the point of forgetting a character's given name entirely.

These characters are not [[TheyCallMeMisterTibbs referred to with titles]], either. It's not "Dr. House" to the other regulars. It's just "House."

At times the LastNameBasis becomes jarring. When ''Series/{{House}}'''s Wilson began dating Amber (the only first-namer on the show,) she still referred to him as Wilson, possibly because the writers were so used to the name, they didn't think about it, and possibly because they thought the viewers might not know who "James" was. (This kind of situation may be used to set up a joke if the character has an {{embarrassing first name}}.)

How much TruthInTelevision this is for modern US culture varies, especially for professional settings. Title-and-last-name-basis is often used in formal business relationships, for example with a customer or a boss. Even in less formal settings, LastNameBasis is seen among groups of coworkers, especially when there is a lot of first-name overlap. It's also the standard in the US military, where you might be a bit hazy on the first name of your best buds.

* LastNameBasis/{{Webcomic}}

LastNameBasis is TruthInTelevision for many non-US cultures; in Latin America it's not uncommon to see close friends calling each other by their last names, and it is standard for Japan, where FirstNameBasis is a more significant trope.

In other shows, usually based on a shared workplace, characters refer to each other by surnames only. Nobody ever calls {{House}} by his given name, Greg, including his best friend, whom he calls Wilson. Most of the characters on ''{{CSI}}'' call Grissom by his surname, as they do Brass, Hodges, and Ecklie. Accordingly, fans refer to such characters by their singular surnames, sometimes to the point of forgetting a character's given name entirely.

At times the LastNameBasis becomes jarring. When ''{{House}}'''s Wilson began dating Amber (the only first-namer on the show,) she still referred to him as Wilson, possibly because the writers were so used to the name, they didn't think about it, and possibly because they thought the viewers might not know who "James" was. (This kind of situation may be used to set up a joke if the character has an {{embarrassing first name}}.)

* LastNameBasis/{{Theatre}}

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Parley from ''GunnerkriggCourt'' is called by her last name, because everyone's too nice to call her [[TomboyishName George]].
* Johnathan Gabriel from ''PennyArcade'' usually goes by "Gabe."
* Most of the pilots in ''Angels2200'' are referred to by their callsign or last name.
** Nicknames instead of first or last names are pretty common among enlisted troops of all services, especially to enforce a OneSteveLimit if there's more than one soldier of the same last name and rank.
* Nolan from ''RegularGuy''.
* The title character of ItsWalky goes by Walkerton. He doesn't actually LIKE his nickname Walky (At best he tolerates it, there are only a few characters he actually doesn't mind calling him that). Almost no one calls him "David".
* All of the government-employed characters in ''Doomsday, My Dear'' refer to each other by last name: Zahra, Bowden, Young, et cetera. A few characters refer to Khepry and Chet by their first names, but no one uses Cyril's.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Depending on who's talking to who, ''OpenBlue'' falls in between LastNameBasis and address by rank for military characters, FirstNameBasis for civilians and/or pirates, or some mix of such. Even the addressing in narration differs between [=RPers=].
* Averted in the 7th Son podcast novel trilogy, as 7 of the main heroes AND the Big Bad all have the same last name. Played straight though with the supporting heroes, who are almost always referred to as Hill and Kleinman; their last names.
* Most of the terrorists in ''SurvivalOfTheFittest'' are only ever referred to by their surnames. (Danya, [=McLocke=], Kaige, Rice, Grossi, Garnett, Konrad, Chevalier, Hurst, Richards, Baines) [[TheWoobie Dorian]] is the sole exception.
** Among the students, we have Anna Chase of v4, who prefers to have people use her last name when referring to her. Liam "Brook" Brooks (also v4) is a minor variation, but probably still fits. Occasionally other students get this treatment as well (sometimes [[AxCrazy J.R. Rizzolo]] is referred to by his last name or "Riz", for example).
* Most characters in ''RedVsBlue'' save [[HisNameReallyIsBarkeep Sarge]], [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Grif's sister]] (who is never referred to by her name [[AllThereInTheManual Kaikaina]]), [[OnlyOneName Lopez]], [[CodeName the Freelancers]], and any tertiary characters, due to the characters being in the military. Church didn't even ''know'' Tucker's first name when he asked him partway through the series, despite working with him for months. The cast's full names are Leonard L. Church, Michael J. Caboose, Lavernius Tucker, Dick Simmons, Franklin Delano Donut, and Dexter Grif.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Most of the Safety Patrol on ''{{Fillmore}}'' refer to each other by last names, despite being middle schoolers. (Though if your first name was Cornelius, wouldn't you want to go by Fillmore?) Ingrid is usually called by her first name, but not always.
* (Sheldon) Plankton from ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants''. Not even his own grandmother calls him Sheldon.
* None of the kids (besides Butters) in ''SouthPark'' call (Eric) Cartman by his first name. Only the adults call him that.
** Kyle calls him "Eric" in the pilot episode. ("Come on, Eric, we're gonna go play at the bus stop!")
** Wendy, Kenny and Butters sometime called him "Eric." As a rule, fewer characters do as time goes on; by now, it's mostly just the adults.
* (Philip) Fry in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''.
** Don't forget (Turanga) Leela, although it's implied "Turanga" is her surname. (In another episode, her parents are referred to as Turanga Morris and Turanga Munda, further implying that mutants arrange their names surname first - though Leela was not aware she was a mutant, it seems she may still have arranged the name that way.)
*** In one of the movies, the mailbox outside of Leela's parents house reads "Turanga".
** This is lampshaded in the episode that introduced their full names, as seen in the page quote.
** [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And (John) Zoidberg]]!
* (Glen) Quagmire in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''.
** Lois calls him Glen and a number of other people as well, including his sister. It's mostly his drinking buddies who call him Quagmire.
* Mr. Burns from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', in that his first name (Charles) is hardly ever used. When people wish to refer to him informally, he goes by his ''middle'' name, Monty.
** Given how Mr Burns was adopted by an eccentric old billionaire as a child, is its possible he was named after the Roman convention where Charles would be his pre-nom and Montgomery is his actual name (for example, ''Gaius'' Julius Casaer). Given how old-fashioned, eccentric and high-society he is, this would make a lot of sense.
** Smithers is also rarely referred to by his first name, Waylon.
** Homer calls Ned Flanders on his last name.
*** Flanders also addressed Homer as "Simpson" early on. [[{{Flanderization}} As he transformed from a perfect neighbor into an ultra-pious nice guy]], he started calling Homer by first name (and any number of vari-diddly-ations thereof).
* Spinelli from ''{{Recess}}'', who keeps her first name (Ashley) a secret to differentiate herself from "[[TheHeathers The Ashleys]]," a posse of {{Alpha Bitch}}es that she hates.
* Captain ([[EmbarrassingFirstName Leslie]]) Hero of ''DrawnTogether''. Through the entire run of the series, the only person who addresses Hero by his first name is his mother.
* In ''MonsterAllergy'', everyone, even his parents, addresses Ezekiel Zick by his last name.
* Boomhauer from ''KingOfTheHill''. It took 13 seasons for us to learn his first name (Jeff).
* ''KimPossible'' has [[DarkActionGirl Shego]], who inverts this. [[{{Fanon}} It is suggested that her last name is "Go"]], but she has "She" in front because she [[FaceHeelTurn used to be good]] and part of a team with her brothers, and she was the [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the only girl]]. It's also possible their names relate to their first names, but they're never given. {{Lampshaded}} by Ron in ''Go Team Go''.
** Her employer Dr. Drakken is usually addressed or referred to simply as Drakken. The same applies for one of the other villains, (Duff) Killigan, and for Kim's teacher (Steve) Barkin.
*** Also, Mr. Barkin addresses students by their last names; it seems to be a mix of formality and gruffness.
* The commander of ''TitanMaximum'' is called Palmer. Even his grandparents call him that, while his far-less-cool little brother is just Willie.
* Oddly enough, there were a few moments in ''{{Rugrats}}'' where Angelica would address Tommy as "Pickles," despite the fact that they are cousins and share the same last name.
* ([[spoiler: Enzo]]) Matrix from ''{{ReBoot}}''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'', Commander Feral's first name (Ulysses) is used only once in the entire series.
* The same is true of Hal Needham from ''WesternAnimation/StuntDawgs''.
* (William) Murderface and (Charles Foster) Ofdensen in ''{{Metalocalypse}}''.
* In ''{{Archer}}'', despite the fact that the head of ISIS is Malory Archer, nearly everyone except Malory addresses her son Sterling as simply "Archer."
* ([[EmbarrassingFirstName Wendy]]) Pleakley from ''LiloAndStitch''
* [[{{Cars}} Mater's]] first name is actually "Tow."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Standard practice in [[JapanesePoliteness Japan]], combined with {{Honorifics}}. [[{{FirstNameBasis}} First name]] + honorific is more intimate, and ''yobisute'' (null honorific) even more so.
* Not at all uncommon in many British schools (especially in all-male situations such as PE), and not just the posh public schools that the stereotype tends to suggest, either.
* A vast majority of political figures are referred mainly by their last name, unless they get some kind of nickname (JFK).
** The main exceptions to this being some female politicians and [[LegacyCharacter political legacies]] whose last names aren't distinctive enough (Hillary Clinton, almost universally referred to as "Hillary", is an example of both). SaddamHussein was almost always referred to as "Saddam," presumably because "Hussein" is an all-too-common name in the Arab world.
** Saddam is just as common a first name as Hussein is as a surname. "Saddam Hussein" in the Arab world is about as distinctive as John Smith. Why the world came to reffer to Saddam on a first name basis isn't clear, but it may have been propagated by Saddam himself as part of his cult of personality.
*** Calling him "Saddam" is a sign of disrespect. It might have to do with the practice of US officials routinely pronouncing "Saddam" the same as the biblical city of Sodom.
** One extreme example was Abraham Lincoln. He didn't like the name Abe or Abraham and even his family and friends addressed him as Lincoln.
*** This is ironic, since he's an example of an American President who's commonly called by his first name (and often the diminutive form).
* This is more often than not the case in the United States military. It leads to confusion which common last names, however. Which often times leads to the form address being "Rank Last Name" in units were there is more then one instance of the last name, or appropriate informal title such as [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Top, Gunny or Chief]].
** This is probably so in EVERY military in the world, where you are only "allowed" to refer to name within your own or a lower rank group. Also, since the names are usually branded on the uniforms in the form of a nametag, you hear the last names of your fellow comrades more often, and it therefore gets memorized to the face more easily. This was the case to this troper during his training in the [[WeAreNotTheWehrmacht german army]].
*** Not the case in the IDF. Israelis are generally very, very informal, speaking to complete strangers their age with the language they’d use for a close friend. This is a bit toned down in the army, but even then soldiers sometimes refer to their direct commanders by their first name.
** In the Army, the Last Name rule is less common among the commissioned officer ranks, where a superior officer often calls peers and subordinates by their first name. Enlisted soldiers are told to stick with last names, as an unofficial rule. Note that the rule never applies when speaking to a superior: use their title only.
** Part of this stems from the ideal of professionalism; part of it is because during basic training, nobody in charge really cares about your first name.
** Not sure if this counts, but USAF fighter pilot callsigns are used more than their real names, to the point where the given names are sometimes forgotten.
*** That's more KnownOnlyByTheirNickname or NomDeGuerre.
* In cultures where FirstNameBasis is normal, a person with a common first name but an uncommon last name might be addressed on LastNameBasis by their friends and peers, just because it's a more distinctive name.
* The Norwegian explorer Nansen famously suggested to his companion Johansen, after weeks of sharing a sleeping bag to survive an arctic winter, that they should start using each other's first names.
* Almost universal in sports, where announcers and coaches will refer to the players almost exclusively using their last names. Relatedly, it's typically only the last name that appears on the player's uniform.
** The most famous exception is that Brazilian soccer players usually have their ''nicknames'' on their uniforms. OnlyKnownByTheirNickname is the usual norm.
* AP Style for news writing dictates that, after the first mention of someone in an article, all other references use only their last name. This makes it tricky when a reporter finds himself writing an article about several members of the same family.
* Averted in Iceland, where the patronymic last name is thought of as more a description than an actual name, honorifics are applied to the first name, and even the phone book is listed in first-name order.
* Most Koreans refer to each other by title, title + surname, or a generic family term like "Auntie" or "Grandma", unless they are close, and sometimes not even then.
* In Holland, at least in the East region of Twente, it's not unusual for people to call them by their last name as a greeting.
* As noted in LittleWomen, when Jo tells Laurie that she's not Miss March, she's only Miss Jo, it was a commmon practice in the 1800s to refer to the oldest of multiple sisters by "Miss [surname]" and all younger sisters as "Miss [first name]"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* It's very common for wrestlers to refer to each other by last name, and for commentators to use surnames 90% of the time.
* Dave Batista and Dave Finlay, whose respective ring names are their actual last names (Batista's with a minor spelling change from "Bautista"). Finlay was also known as "Fit Finlay" in WCW, and it's rare for anyone to call him by his first name. Batista gets a "Dave" every now and then, however.
* Bobby Lashley was often referred to as "Mr. Lashley" or simply "Lashley." Teddy Long always called him "Bobby," though.
* Then there's Ken Kennedy, who insisted on being referred to as "Mr. Kennedy" - and insisted on referring to himself as "Mister Kennedy....Kennedy!" Since his jump to TNA, he's gone by 'Mr. Anderson'.
* VinceMcMahon's name on the official WWE website and on most official WWE products such as WWE magazine is listed as simply "Mr. [=McMahon=]."
* Bill Goldberg dropped his first name during his monster push in WCW.
* TNA's Kazarian used to be called Frankie Kazarian, but dropped the first name.
* Inexplicably, during his last run with TNA 'The Fallen Angel' Christopher Daniels (aka 'Curry Man') was billed simply as 'Daniels'.
* Before he was JBL, John Layfield was known as Justin 'Hawk' Bradshaw. He dropped his first name and his nickname when he was paired up with Farooq to form 'The Acolytes'.
* This is almost completely subverted with the WWE Divas. So infrequently does Last Name Basis occur, that many Divas don't even ''have'' last names. Sometimes it's a first and last that are rarely separated (Gail Kim, Rosa Mendes) or a last name that is only used extremely rarely (Jillian Hall, Eve Torres) or simply only being known by their first name (Melina, Layla, Maryse.) Michelle {{McCool}} seems to be the one exception to this, but in her case, it is a 50-50 basis.
* In the case that a wrestler has a last name like Hardy, Hart, Guerrero, DiBiase, or Rhodes, they are often referred to by their first name, especially when two people are involved at once.
** This is especially used in the case of Vickie Guerrero, probably because she is a woman.
* Nowadays, the only male wrestler (who doesn't fit the "family" example above) better known by his first name than by his last name is Santino Marella.
** He did have last name basis in the earlier parts of his career, but when his gimmick became a comedy gimmick, this was swapped.
** Kofi Kingston may also be an example, but that is nowhere near the extreme of Santino's case.

[[folder:Theater]]
* ''{{RENT}}'': (Tom) Collins is referred to as Collins by everyone, including his lover Angel. (This is an allusion to Colline, the character from LaBoheme that he is an {{Expy}} of.)
* In the musical ''I Can Get It For You Wholesale'', Miss Marmelstein complains in her eponymous song about always being called by her last name. The list of names she'd prefer to be called includes her EmbarrassingFirstName, Yetta, and her middle name, "[[MyNaymeIs spelled T-E-S-S-Y-E]]."
* This shows up a lot in ''TheHistoryBoys,'' which makes sense as it's set as the British school environment listed below.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Likewise, the main character of ''{{Freelancer}}'', Edison Trent, insists that people call him Trent. His final line of the game is actually "Please. Call me Trent."
* [[TheKingOfFighters Kyo Kusanagi]] never refers to Iori as anything other than "Yagami". While rules regarding names are different for Japan, his lack of honorifics indicates that he doesn't hold him in too high of a regard.
* PhoenixWright and Miles Edgeworth always refer to each other by their surnames. The only ones to refer to Edgeworth simply as Miles are Redd White, a pompous idiot, and Marvin Grossberg, who presumably knew him from childhood through his father. For the rest it's 'Edgeworth' to Phoenix, '[[FullNameBasis Miles Edgeworth]]' to Franziska and 'Mr. Edgeworth' to everyone else apart from Oldbag and Gant, who use nicknames for him. Even Manfred von Karma refers to him as "Edgeworth" rather then Miles
** [[ButtMonkey Larry]] uses a nickname for Edgeworth also.
** Franziska seems to switch between his full name and Miles during Investigations depending on her intent. She is also an example of this trope herself as she is refereed to as von Karma (Even in her name box) by Pheonix and Ms. von Karma by everyone else except Edgeworth and her Father. Her text box name even appears as Franziska in Investigations rather then von Karma like it has in past games.
** It's notable that Phoenix drops the LastNameBasis with Edgeworth at exactly one instance, where he remembers their childhood and refers to him as 'Miles'. The LastNameBasis returns quickly after this, however, and permanently sticks, even after they restore their old friendship. This was probably done in order to show that, despite being friends again, there relationship is still not the same anymore that it used to be prior to the DL-6 incident.
* During the course of ''{{Geist}}'', no one ever refers to John Raimi by his first name. Then again, if you had his name, wouldn't you want everyone to call you by it, too?
* In ''MassEffect'', the main character is always called "Shepard," even by someone you just had sex with. This is because [[HelloInsertNameHere you can choose your character's first name]], but the game is fully-voiced. Urdnot Wrex, meanwhile, is ''not'' an example, even though everyone calls him "Wrex"; krogan names give the clan name first, in the same fashion as real-world Japanese names.
* Similar to the {{Mass Effect}} example, in {{Dragon Age 2}}, everyone calls the main character by their family name, Hawke, for the same reason-- the game is fully voiced. The game dialogue tries to avoid the awkwardness of having Hawke's family or long-term, live-in love interest call them by their surname, but it still happens from time to time.
** It's also a little weird when you have your sibling in your party and [=NPCs=] still say things like "So, you're Hawke." Your sibling never mentions that he/she is also a Hawke.
* Ijuuin Enzan of ''RockmanEXE'' is called by his given name. However, his counterpart Eugene Chaud's given name comes up precious few times over the course of six games, and only when he is introducing himself by his full name. In fact, it's so unknown that Chaud's ''NTWarrior'' version was dubbed into "Chaud Blaze". The dubbers apparently couldn't be bothered to find out that Chaud wasn't his first name. (It was also [[SpellMyNameWithAnS mispronounced]] as "Chodd".)
* Cidolfas Orlandu/Orlandeau (differing translations) of ''FinalFantasyTactics'' is generally known by either his last name or as T.G. Cid (short for Thunder God Cid). The game system itself refers to him by his last name, though every other character is referred to by their first name.
* Aldebert Steiner of ''FinalFantasyIX'' is almost always referred to as Steiner, or occasionally "Rusty" by Zidane. He also holds the privilege of being the only Final Fantasy character to have his surname [[HelloInsertNameHere determined by the player]].
* Not exactly a true full name, but it still counts: Solid Snake from the ''MetalGearSolid'' series is usually addressed as "Snake" and never as "Solid", even when he is mentioned alongside his clone brothers, "Solidus" and "Liquid", who share the "Snake" codename. "Big Shell Evil", one of the "Snake Tales" in ''Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance'' even lampshades this.
** Also happens to Solid Snake's predecessor, "Naked Snake", but in his case its justified since he's the original "Snake" and calling a man "Naked" doesn't exactly sound right.
* Chloe Valens of ''VideoGame/TalesofLegendia'' would prefer to call people by their last names.
* Sam Fisher of ''SplinterCell'' is almost always referred to by his last name, especially by his VoiceWithAnInternetConnection, Lambert. That's ''Irving'' Lambert. And then there's Grimsdottir. Pretty much everyone is called by their last name in this series.
** Sam always calls her "Grim" for simplicity's sake.
* All the Chosen in ''EternalDarkness'' are referred to by their first names by the in-game text except for Edwin Lindsey, which could be chalked up to OneSteveLimit, seeing as there's also an Edward.
** Paul is consistently "Brother Luther" to the people he interacts with in his time period. Michael Edwards is "Edwards" to his superiors, and refers to two dead firefighters by what may be their last names. LastNameBasis seems most common in the actual dialogue, [[OnlyOneName when the characters have last names]].
* There is only one person in the entire ''ResidentEvil'' franchise [[hottip:*: Excella Gione, [=RE5=]]]who refers to Albert Wesker by his first name. To everyone else, he's simply [[strike: [[SayMyName WEEEESKKEEEEEEERRRR!!]]]] ''"Wesker."''
* In RacingLagoon, LastNameBasis is very common with an except for TheChick (yet the main character calls her by last name) since the game takes place in the year 1999 of urban Japan. While you can name your main character's first name, it's more or less being referred to by another character in the entire game.
* In ''{{Persona 3}}'', [[DefrostingIceQueen Mitsuru]] refers to most of the SEES team by their last names. The only exception in the beginning is Akihiko, a fellow senior which whom she has quite the history.
** And in ''ShinMegamiTensei: StrangeJourney'', the protagonist is more commonly called by his last name (as opposed to first like in other SMT games), even in menus and the battle screens.
* Nobody is sure what [[WorldOfWarcraft Lady Vashj]]'s first name is. Everybody (apparently, even her ''mother'') referred to her as "Lady Vashj".
** Use of last names seems fairly common in Gilneas. King Genn Greymane is typically called "King Greymane" by everyone except his wife and his old friend Darius Crowley.
** [[MemeticBadass High Overlord Varok Saurfang]] and his son, Draenosh Saurfang, are typically referrred to as "Saurfang" and "Saurfang the Younger".
** Grom and Garrosh Hellscream are often referred to by their last names, and Garrosh tends to use his last name when assigning things as his, such as in his CatchPhrase, "Hellscream's eyes are always upon you."
*** "Hellscream" is less of a last name and more of a nickname thanks to Grommash's (Grom's full name) very loud voice. It's mentioned in the novels that nicknames pass from father to son after the former's death. Orgrim wasn't called "Doomhammer" until his father fell in battle and passed on his warhammer to his son. Thus, Garrosh didn't become Hellscream until Grom died fighting Mannoroth.
* Both played straight and averted in the {{Gears of War}} game series. Averted with the two main characters, Marcus Fenix and Dominic "Dom" Santiago, who are almost exclusively called by their first names. Played straight with Damon Baird and Augustus "The Cole Train" Cole, who are almost exclusively called by the last names, or in Cole's case, his Thrashball nickname.
* Boone from FalloutNewVegas is on a LastNameBasis with ''everyone.'' His first name, Craig, is mentioned twice-in-game.
** Rose of Sharon Cassidy is also on a LastNameBasis with everyone as well, being called Cass. She herself mentions she's not a huge fan of her last name after it evolved into an EmbarassingNickname, Whiskey Rose, for her heavy drinking habits and rosy cheeks. Now the only people who call her Rose are those who quickly find themselves lying on the floor of a bar.
* InazumaEleven: In Japan, unless you're a girl or the heroes' relatives, expected yourself to be called by your last name. Even the protagonists are not immure to this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Parley from ''GunnerkriggCourt'' is called by her last name, because everyone's too nice to call her [[TomboyishName George]].
* Johnathan Gabriel from ''PennyArcade'' usually goes by "Gabe."
* Most of the pilots in ''Angels2200'' are referred to by their callsign or last name.
** Nicknames instead of first or last names are pretty common among enlisted troops of all services, especially to enforce a OneSteveLimit if there's more than one soldier of the same last name and rank.
* Nolan from ''RegularGuy''.
* The title character of ItsWalky goes by Walkerton. He doesn't actually LIKE his nickname Walky (At best he tolerates it, there are only a few characters he actually doesn't mind calling him that). Almost no one calls him "David".
* All of the government-employed characters in ''Doomsday, My Dear'' refer to each other by last name: Zahra, Bowden, Young, et cetera. A few characters refer to Khepry and Chet by their first names, but no one uses Cyril's.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Depending on who's talking to who, ''OpenBlue'' falls in between LastNameBasis and address by rank for military characters, FirstNameBasis for civilians and/or pirates, or some mix of such. Even the addressing in narration differs between [=RPers=].
* Averted in the 7th Son podcast novel trilogy, as 7 of the main heroes AND the Big Bad all have the same last name. Played straight though with the supporting heroes, who are almost always referred to as Hill and Kleinman; their last names.
* Most of the terrorists in ''SurvivalOfTheFittest'' are only ever referred to by their surnames. (Danya, [=McLocke=], Kaige, Rice, Grossi, Garnett, Konrad, Chevalier, Hurst, Richards, Baines) [[TheWoobie Dorian]] is the sole exception.
** Among the students, we have Anna Chase of v4, who prefers to have people use her last name when referring to her. Liam "Brook" Brooks (also v4) is a minor variation, but probably still fits. Occasionally other students get this treatment as well (sometimes [[AxCrazy J.R. Rizzolo]] is referred to by his last name or "Riz", for example).
* Most characters in ''RedVsBlue'' save [[HisNameReallyIsBarkeep Sarge]], [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Grif's sister]] (who is never referred to by her name [[AllThereInTheManual Kaikaina]]), [[OnlyOneName Lopez]], [[CodeName the Freelancers]], and any tertiary characters, due to the characters being in the military. Church didn't even ''know'' Tucker's first name when he asked him partway through the series, despite working with him for months. The cast's full names are Leonard L. Church, Michael J. Caboose, Lavernius Tucker, Dick Simmons, Franklin Delano Donut, and Dexter Grif.
[[/folder]]

* LastNameBasis/Music

[[folder:Music]]
* Every ''{{Starflyer 59}}'' release since 2001 lists the last name and first initial of each band member, rather than their full names. Apparently the band would also address each other by last name during tours.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* In ''BloomCounty'' and its sequel strips, Michael Binkley is simply "Binkley" to everyone else. Including ''his own father''.
* [[{{Popeye}} Thimble Theatre]]: (J. Wellington) Wimpy
* ''{{Candorville}}'' notes the DoubleStandard in one strip from the 2008 U.S. presidential election sason, pointing out that the news always talked about "Obama and Hillary" instead of "Obama and Clinton."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films]]
* Done hillariously in GiveEmHellMalone where Hardboiled private dick Malone as referred to as such by everyone... Including his mom.
* Martin Riggs from the ''LethalWeapon'' movies is always referred to as "Riggs", even though he calls his partner Roger Murtaugh by his first name.
* Almost all of the characters in ''Film/{{Alien}}'' and ''Aliens'' go by last names only. Ripley's first name (Ellen) was never stated in the original theatrical cut of either film, appearing only in a deleted scene from ''Aliens.''
** In fact, the original draft of ''Alien'' (included as a [[DVDBonusContent DVD extra]] in the [[BoxedSet Alien Quadrilogy box set]]) was written such that ''all'' the characters had no assigned gender.
** With the exceptions of Carter Burke, Ellen Ripley, Dwayne Hicks and (possibly) Gorman, all the marines in ''Aliens'' have [[TheDanza their actor's first name for their real one]] (e.g. Al Apone (Matthews), Jeanette Vasquez (Goldstein), etc)
* In most movies about military squads, characters are referred to by either their last name or a nickname. The ''Film/{{Alien}}'' example above comes to mind, as well as ''{{Predator}}'' (except Dutch, of course) and ''SavingPrivateRyan'' (his full name is James Francis Ryan).
* Most JamesBond villains call him "Mr. Bond" (his traditional SurnameFirstNameSurname introduction helps it).
** The ladies call him James. Including M at times. Normally M (and Q) refers to him by his number, 007
* In ''RearWindow'', the protagonist, L. B. Jeffries is called "Jeff" by everyone.
* Withnail of ''WithnailAndI''.
* You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone calling [[{{Riddick}} Richard B. Riddick]] by his first name in Vin Diesel's series of action thrillers. Also true for (William J.) Johns and (Carolyn) Fry
* In ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' Commodore Norrington's first name isn't even never mentioned in the first movie. Second and third movie reveal that it is James. Similarly, Barbossa's first name isn't mentioned until the third when Captain Jack Sparrow calls him "Hector," which is itself a SureWhyNot taken from an earlier interview with Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush when the former speculated on what Barbossa's name might be.
* This is shown in the Disney movie TheGreatMouseDetective: (Padraic) Ratigan, (David) Dawson, and (Hiram) Flaversham.
* Almost everyone in ''TheGreatEscape'' except for Roger (the leader), Colin (the forger), Danny, and Willy (the {{Tunnel King}}s).
* Pretty nearly the entire ''LeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', except for Nemo (who doesn't ''have'' any other name) and Mina (most of the men address her by her first name, eventually).
* In ''{{Inception}}'', the characters often refer to each other by their last names -- the main character, Cobb, is only called by his first name by his wife and father/father in law, another character only goes by 'Eames', implied to be his last name (there's even a [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6275157/1/pseudonymous fanfic]] about this), and the team usually refers to Robert Fischer as just 'Fischer'.
* ''TheWayBack'' has Mister Smith, who refuses to give his first name and is simply called Smith by most of his companions. Some of the ones with a shakier grasp of English think 'Mister' is actually his first name, and the sole child in the group uses it like it is.
* In the movie ''Film/{{Waitress}}'' Jenna [[InsistentTerminology won't]] call the man she's having an affair with by his first name, even though Dr. Pomatter (Jim) uses hers.

[[folder:Literature]]
* Nymphadora Tonks in ''HarryPotter'' is a rare female example; she demands that people call her Tonks and not her first name. You can see her point. Her parents call her Dora, and after she gets married, so does her husband. The book doesn't address whether or not she took her husband's last name; Harry/The Narrator still thinks of her as "Tonks."
** Lupin still calls her that too ("Tonks is going to have a baby"), though he also uses "Dora" on occasion.
** Even Malfoy never refers to his two closest friends/lackeys as Vincent and Gregory. For that matter, very few people refer to Malfoy as Draco. Also applies to most students who aren't close friends.
*** In [[FanFic fanfiction]], however, Malfoy is pretty much ''always'' referred to as "Draco". Oddly, JKRowling tends to call him "Draco" in real life.
*** It can get confusing when they refer to both Draco's lackeys and their fathers as Crabbe and Goyle.
*** Draco is also on last name basis with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Though this is related to the mutual distaste.
** For that matter, a large amount of characters are known by their last names; Hagrid, Dumbledore, Snape, Lupin, the entire Hogwarts staff in general, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, etc. Somewhat justified in that many of the examples are teachers at Hogwarts. The general rule of thumb is that Harry/The Narrator refers to characters he likes by their first names unless they are explicitly authority figures. For instance, he starts calling Lupin Remus in the last book (stopping thinking of him as a teacher). Interestingly the narration still refers to him as Lupin but Harry is calling him Remus.
*** Pansy Parkinson is a weird exception. She is the AlphaBitch and Harry has no likeness for her, but he/the narrator thinks of her as "Pansy" rather than "Parkinson". Hermione does refer to her as "Parkinson", however. Harry never talks to Pansy or mentions her in dialogue, so we don't know how he would refer to her outside his head.
** Insofar as it applies to fellow students at Hogwarts, that's really just a Public School (Americans: read 'private, fee-paying school') thing, probably informed by all those other books set in boarding schools.
** In [[{{HarryPotter/Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban}} Prisoner of Azkaban]], Harry / the Narrator refers to Sirius as 'Black' up until he starts believing him over Wormtail. Suddenly the narration calls him 'Sirius' instead and this stays throughout the rest of the series.
** Usually, "Harry" refers to the character in specific, while "Potter" refers to the franchise as a whole.
* To the very end of the ''SherlockHolmes'' canon, despite being best friends and living through years (even decades) of perilous adventures together, Holmes and Watson still use each other's last names, but this would be absolutely TruthInTelevision for Englishmen of their period and class. Only Holmes' brother Mycroft ever uses his first name.
** Interestingly, in the pastiche ''Beekeeper's Apprentice'' series, the main character and the detective refer to each other as 'Russell' and 'Holmes' respectively. Even [[spoiler: after they get married]].
** {{Subverted}} in the ''{{Sherlock}}'' series. They're not "Holmes" and "Watson", they're "Sherlock" and "John". It's the 21st century. Move on. Not that it would be uncommon to stick with the old convention in the present century of course.
* In ''{{Fahrenheit 451}}'', protagonist Guy Montag is referred to solely as Montag in the narrative and more or less everyone else, only addressed as Guy by his wife Mildred and once or twice by his boss Captain Beatty (Clarisse calls him 'Mr Montag').
* In ''The Amelia Peabody Mysteries'', Amelia and her husband Radcliffe Emerson fondly refer to each other by their last names, in memory of their rather tumultuous courtship.
* In DanAbnett's GauntsGhosts novels, LastNameBasis is normal. First names are seldom even given in the text. Exceptions grow as the series go on, and are generally significiant.
** Technically, every important character except Bragg has a first name given; it's just that the only characters who are ever referred to by their first names with any frequency are Gaunt, Corbec, and Milo.
* In ''TheGreatGatsby'', the character Jay Gatsby is almost always refered to as Gatsby. Although, to be fair, nobody really knows anything about him.
* Anthony Buckeridge's ''Jennings'' books have the schoolboy characters (and their teachers) use surnames only all the time (as is still quite common in some British schools). Initials occasionally crop up, but you have to read quite a few books before learning all the first names of the regular characters.
* In JaneAusten's ''PrideAndPrejudice'', unlike virtually every screen adaption, you ''do'' find out Mr. Darcy's first name. But none of the characters ever use it, and Elizabeth's parents refer to each other as "Mr. Bennet" and "Mrs. Bennet." The sisters are usually referred to by name, at least by family members (thank goodness - it would be tricky to tell from context which "Miss Bennet" was being referred to at the family table), but even then it is ''only'' family members - both Jane and Elizabeth are called "Miss Bennet" by the Bingley sisters (there's another last name only) and even their eventual husbands. The Lady Catherine de Bourgh is about the only exception who gets a first name even outside her family.
** {{Justified}}, in that this was the social custom of the Regency period. It only seems weird by today's standards.
** Lady Catherine's first name is courtesy. Though not a peer herself, she was the daughter of an Earl, hence the "Lady Firstname Lastname" treatment; she also was the wife of a knight, thus doubly entitling her to the courtesy (like Lady Lucas, wife of Sir William). Her sister, who [[DeadToBeginWith never even shows up]], is mentioned as Lady Anne for the exact same reasons. (See LordPeterWimsey for another famous honorific. Lord Wimsey could be used to indicate his older brother, the Duke of Denver, but not Lord Peter himself who was without a peerage.)
** Also, referring to the girls as Miss Bennet, or Miss "named" Bennet, was another matter of proper social behavior. The oldest girl actually present would get the Miss Bennet treatment, while any younger ones would be designated Miss "Firstname" Bennet.
** Plus, it's totally understandable for Darcy to go by his last name, because his first name is [[EmbarrassingFirstName Fitzwilliam]]. Eurgh.
** Mr Bennet's lack of a first name is lampshaded by LostInAusten, wherein Amanda is surprised and pleased to find out Mr Bennet's first name. Even if it is [[EmbarrassingFirstName Claude]].
** The same is true of Austen's other novels, with the exception of ''{{Emma}}'' -- several characters in that story do address the heroine by her Christian name. This actually makes sense, since they are her social peers and are older characters who have known her from birth or early childhood onward; it's only those of lower social standing and/or newer acquaintance who call her "Miss Woodhouse."
* Being set in the Napoleonic Wars, this trope appears frequently in the {{Aubrey-Maturin}} series. For instance, before their marriage, and even occasionally after, Stephen Maturin and Diana Villiers customarily address each other by their surnames, notwithstanding the passion of their romance. LastNameBasis becomes an important plot point in the round-the-world arc beginning with ''The Thirteen Gun Salute'' when [[spoiler:Stephen writes a letter granting his friend - and superior as chief of naval intelligence - Sir Joseph Blaine power of attorney to move his fortune to a different bank than the one he currently has it deposited in. However, Stephen signs the letter with his first name instead of "S. Maturin", which is his customary signature for business letters; in true CloudCuckooLander fashion he was writing a note to his wife at the same time and got the signatures mixed up. Sir Joseph can't move the money with the incorrectly signed power-of-attorney letter, but this proves to be ''very'' fortunate in the end because the bank that Stephen had intended to deposit his funds on unexpectedly goes bust. Also, Stephen's using his first name solidifies his friendship with Sir Joseph and moves it to a new level of intimacy, and from that point on they address each other by unadorned first name - a liberty that, among his friends and loved ones, Jack, Jack's wife Sophie, and Diana are virtually the only other ones entitled to.]]
* Meursault, the narrator of Camus' ''TheStranger''.
* Goes back and forth in StarWarsExpandedUniverse novels: not only does the narration use some first names, some last names, and some nicknames, it's rare that the characters themselves use a different name than the narration - usually for emphasis. For instance, the [[XWingSeries Wraith's]] original roster: '''Wedge''' Antilles, Wes '''Janson''', Myn '''Donos''', '''Jesmin''' Ackbar, Hohass '''"Runt"''' Ekwesh, Garik '''"Face"''' Loran, Ton '''Phanan''', '''Falynn''' Sandskimmer, Voort '''"Piggy"''' saBinring, '''Tyria''' Sarkin, '''Kell''' Tainer, and Eurrsk '''"Grinder"''' Thri'ag. Yes, [[MildlyMilitary they often call the squad commander by name]], but not the doctor. (On the other hand, Phanan is ''older'' than Wedge...)
** Kinda justified on Wedge's case: almost every third human from Corellia is named Antilles.
** And most people call Wes Janson "Wes", anyway.
** An exchange from ''OutboundFlight''.
--->'''Thrawn''': "I appreciate your honesty, Jorj Car'das."
--->'''Car'das''': "You can just call me Car'das. In our culture, the first name is reserved for use by friends."
--->'''Thrawn''': "You don't consider me a friend?"
--->'''Car'das''': "Do you consider ''me'' one?"
* While [[ArtemisFowl Artemis Fowl]] goes by his first name, his [[BattleButler butler]], Butler, is never addressed by his. Lampshaded rather poignantly in ''The Eternity Code'' when [[spoiler: Butler is fatally shot by Spiro's guards, and confesses his first name to Artemis. Later, Juliet comes racing home from training in Japan with Madame Ko because ''Domovoi'' needs her, not "Butler".]]
* In ''Literature/GoodOmens'', there is no reference to Witchfinder-Sergeant Shadwell even ''having'' a first name. Wensleydale, the SmartGuy of Adam's gang, is rumoured to have been christened "Jeremy", but the rest of the gang call him "Wensley" (his parents call him "Youngster", possibly in the hope that he'd take the hint).
* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series, Ponder Stibbons is pretty consistantly refered to as Ponder by the naration, but no one in universe calls him that. His might be the only name of the faculty that Ridcully remembers [[spoiler: except for the Dean, or should I say Henry]], since unlike the others he is not constantly refered to by his [[{{everyonecallshimbarkeep}} position at the university]]. STIBBONS! This becomes justified later as refering to Ponder by only one of the positions he holds would be rather misleading.
** An even better example from the Wizards of Discworld is that of Rincewind, who can't even REMEMBER his first name (if he even had one. his mother left before he was born. Don't ask.) We only find out it's his last name in fact when he meets a distant relative Bill Rincewind, Archchancelor of Bugerup University in XXXX.
* Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs almost always refer to each other by their surnames in the Lincoln Rhyme series by Jeffery Deaver. In fact, it's considered bad luck by them to use first names while working a case, which is probably justified because the one time Sachs says "Lincoln" while processing a scene, [[spoiler: the tunnel she's in collapses]].
* In AgathaChristie's novels, Poirot and Hastings, despite being very close friends, call each other on their last names.
* In ''TheLastApprentice'' series, we have John Gregory. You go through a good portion of the story thinking his name is actually Gregory.
** More specifically, the main character Tom usually refers to him as 'The Spook' in the narration, but 'Mr. Gregory' when he's talking to someone. Alice calls him 'Old Gregory'. Almost nobody ever calls him John.
* In ''DresdenFiles'' Harry and Karrin Murphy both do this to each other. Very rarely has Harry ever called her Karrin. She's called him Harry a few times though. Also they never call Butters by his first name, though that might have more to do with it being Waldo...
** 'Gentleman' Johnny Marcone does this to Harry. "Mr. Dresden, I have asked you not to call me that."
* Two examples from the DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse EighthDoctorAdventures: in ''The Ancestor Cell'', [[spoiler:a great deal of the plot has to do with an antagonistic alternate version of Fitz Kreiner. The evil alternate version is generally known as Father Kreiner. The Doctor, however, calls him Fitz anyway, and although the first time the Doctor does so, he tells the Doctor, "Don’t call me that. I’m not Fitz," he puts up with it from then on, perhaps symbolic of the fact that, following an EnemyMine situation and Kreiner's having aired out [[LoveMakesYouCrazy his grievances with the Doctor]], they slip back into [[HeterosexualLifePartners their old relationship]].]] Also, in ''The Gallifrey Chronicles'', Anji Kapoor's [[StrangledByTheRedString new fiance]], Greg, keeps calling her "Kap". Fitz can't figure out how he came up with this nickname, until Trix explains it probably comes from Kapoor. Fitz has a problem with this:
--> ‘But that’s her. . . Hang on, he calls her by her surname? That’s just screwy.’
* {{Lampshaded}} by C.S. Lewis in ''TheSilverChair'', when 1940s British schoolmates Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb call one another by their first names near the end of their adventure, after spending almost the entire book on a last name basis. "One didn't do it at school," Lewis notes.
* In the VorkosiganSaga, Ludmilla Droushnakavoi hates her first name, and prefers to answer to a contraction of her surname, Drou (or Droushie to a four year old Emperor Gregor). This continues long after she marries Clement Koudelka (Who dislikes his first name as well, preferring to answer to the standard military address of Rank Lastname whenever possible). In fact, in ''Komarr'', which takes place thirty years after said wedding occurs, Miles, who has known the Koudelka family literally his entire life, refers to her as Drou Koudelka.
* {{Spenser}}'s first name is never given in any of the books. In at least one case, when a character asks for his first name, the first-person narrator simply says "I told her my first name."
* If First Mate Cox has a given name, it's never revealed in {{Nation}}. To do so would probably [[CompleteMonster humanize him too much]].
* SarahWaters has a very neat trick in ''Affinity'', which is made up of two diaries. In the main narrative, [[spoiler: the protagonist sometimes refers to her maid Vigers.]] In the other, [[spoiler: mention is made of a character called [[FirstNameBasis Ruth]].]] They are in fact the same person. The reader only discovers this in the very last pages, and it has terrible consequences.
* After an embarassing incident involving the use of the nickname "Carrots" and a smashed slate over his head, [[AnneofGreenGables Gilbert Blythe]] is referred to almost exclusively as "Mr. Blythe" almost by Anne Shirley. When she's not snubbing or ignoring him, that is. This goes on for years until they finally become friends, at which point she takes to calling him "Gil".

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* The [[ChristopherTitus titular character]] of ''{{Titus}}'' was referred to as "Titus" by everyone except his girlfriend and his father. Titus often even referred to himself by his last name.
* On ''{{MacGyver}}'', MacGyver is only called by his last name and refuses to tell anyone what his [[EmbarrassingFirstName first name]] is (it's [[spoiler:Angus]]). His first name is finally revealed in a dream sequence during the last (seventh) season of the show. His friends usually call him Mac.
** Not exactly the same in his case, since he just hates his first name and doesn't tell people what it is. It doesn't really indicate distance.
* ''[[{{Quincy}} Quincy, ME]]'' goes even farther by never giving the titular character a first name beyond an initial. Jack Klugman always answers that Quincy's first name was, in fact, "Doctor".
* ''Series/BlakesSeven'' especially in reference to Kerr Avon. Even his girlfriend only ever called him Avon. Paul Darrow speculated that was because "Kerr" isn't a very good first name.
** An interesting case because in this show because generally all the guys are referred by last name (Blake, Avon, Gan, Tarrant, Travis) and all the gals by first (Jenna, Dayna, Cally) with the rather odd exception of Vila, whose surname is barely reference through the course of the series. Even BigBad Servalan talks to him on a first name basis. (Nobody knows whether Servalan and Soolin are first or last names though..)
*** It's more than likely that Vila doesn't get the last name treatment because he's [[UnfortunateImplications lower class]] than the rest of the crew.
* ''{{House}}'' features House, Wilson, Cuddy, Cameron, Foreman, Chase, Taub, and Kutner. Cameron and Chase are in a long-term relationship, but are on a LastNameBasis. Only Amber Volakis is regularly called by her first name.
** This can actually get confusing, since Chase, Cameron, and Wilson are all reasonable first names. It can be very easy to forget that their first names are actually Robert, Allison, and James, respectively. Even when you know it's their last names, it's incredibly easy to catch yourself thinking it's their first name.
** Even Amber was originally called [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Cutthroat Bitch]].
** Thirteen's full name was eventually revealed: Dr. Remy Hadley.
** This was joked with in a Season One episode, where Cameron begins to call her colleagues by their first names after having read an "empowerment at the work place" book. This only confuses Chase and Foreman, who respond by saying her name with emphasis when they answer her questions.
--->'''Cameron:''' Are you mocking me?
--->'''Foreman:''' Duh... ''Allison''.
** House's team are so used to calling each other by their last names that when they found a book Wilson had given House with the inscription "''Greg, made me think of you.''", they immediately came to the conclusion that it must have been given by a woman. Of course, some fans may think this indicates [[HoYay other things...]]
** In one episode of the now most recent season, the writers even [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] this with the characters discussing (Eric) Foreman's and Thirteen's continued habit of calling each other by their work names.
** This trope was also invoked to indicate House and [[NewOldFlame Stacy]]'s relationship; besides his mother, she's the only person on the series who regularly calls him Greg.
** Once they got together Chase and Cameron called each other by their first names in private.
** Lampshaded by [[spoiler:Cuddy's mother]] in Season 7, when she asks Cuddy [[spoiler:"why do you call him "House"? The man's name is Greg."]]
* ''{{Dexter}}'': Almost all the characters in Miami Metro, unless they're particularely close to each other (Angel Batista and Maria [=LaGuerta=] during their mariage, siblings Dexter and Debra Morgan, etc.). This sometimes leads to confusion when a character calls out for "Morgan" when Dex and Deb are both present. Subverted to great effect by [[spoiler:Doakes to Dexter in episode 2.11 to reflect that in addition to capturing a killer, he now also wants to help Dexter by turning him in]].
* ''{{CSI}}'' has Grissom, Brass, Hodges, and Ecklie.
** Interesting that except for Grissom, all the other CSI are on a first name basis.
** As of the current season, Grissom is now TheGhost, but a returned Sara continues to refer to him only as "Grissom" despite the fact that [[spoiler: ''they are now married'']]. Even after they became intimate, she only rarely called him by his first name, and only ever in private.
** In the ''{{CSI}}'' spinoff ''CSIMiami'' every main character refers to each other on a first name basis, except Horatio who always calls Ryan by his last name "Mr. Wolfe". Horatio is referred to as "H".
** {{CSI NY}} has (Don)Flack and (Sheldon)Hawkes, although their first names get used sometimes as well. Sometimes when a character answers the phone, they refer to themselves by last name. Stella does it a lot..."Bonasera".
* {{Buffy}} and friends refer to Giles as just Giles. The only exceptions are Jenny Calendar (who calls him Rupert) and Tara and Andrew (who call him Mr. Giles).
** Ethan Rayne calls him Ripper.
** He even calls ''himself'' Giles on occasion.
** For a variant, Oz, whose real name, Daniel Osbourne, is only given once, by which point he'd left the main cast.
** Joyce calls him "Mr. Giles" at first, and later, when they become friends, switches to "Rupert" ... except for that one [[{{Squick}} disturbing]] instance of calling him "Ripper."
** In "Crush" Spike calls Buffy by her last name "Summers" while making his AnguishedDeclarationOfLove, presumably to show he's serious.
** On {{Angel}}, there's Gunn, who only got called Charles by Fred, especially while they dated.
** In TheMovie, Oliver Pike refers to himself and is referred to by others simply as "Pike." His first name [[AllThereInTheManual (which was revealed in the comics adaptation)]] is never spoken in the film - although at the end, when Buffy calls out "Pike?" he replies with "Not anymore," suggesting that he will be called something else from that point forward.
* ''{{Lost}}'' has Locke, whom only Ben and Jack call John (in Jack's case, as a sign of disrespect.) The Others routinely refer to the Losties by their last names, but use first names internally. The Losties use first names. The freighties (apart from Naomi, Charlotte and Miles) mostly use last names.
** It seems like a sign of disrespect when Ben calls Locke "John" too.
** Rousseau is also frequently addressed by her last name, and only occasionally as "Danielle," usually by Sayid.
** Sawyer is seldom referred to as James. The only one who tends to call him that is Juliet, and later Locke. Of course, Sawyer is not his real name.
** In season five, Sawyer [[spoiler:takes up the name Jim [=LeFleur=]. He is generally referred to, even by some of the Oceanic survivors, by that]].
** As of season 6, both Sawyer and Hurley are commonly referred to as James and Hugo, respectively. [[spoiler:Neither even have their respective nicknames in the flashsideways timeline]].
** A plot relevant case: [[spoiler:Jacob]] wrote his candidates down on a last name basis, causing confusion among viewers and characters in regards to candidate "[[spoiler:Kwon]]," which could refer to several characters. When he actually encounters his remaining candidates, however, he refers to each by their first names.
* Mulder and Scully on ''TheXFiles'' regularly called each other by last name. Once Scully's mother referred to Mulder as Fox and Scully corrected her -- it didn't stop her though.
** In the first four seasons, they'd occasionally use first names at emotional moments, but after that they just gave it up, apparently having gotten so used to the last names that "Fox" and "Dana" just sounded weird. In the second movie, [[spoiler:they've had a RelationshipUpgrade and have been living together for six years]], and they're ''still'' on a Last Name Basis.
** Becomes a plot point a couple of times, when lookalike impostors falsely assume that with a relationship as close as theirs, the two agents ''must'' be on FirstNameBasis. [[FridgeBrilliance In fact]], it may be the ProperlyParanoid agents' unspoken [[CrazyPrepared security measure for such situations]].
* Everyone on ''{{NCIS}}'' calls Gibbs by his last name.
** Although his boss does ''occasionally'' call him Jethro.
** As does Ducky.
** Jethro is actually his middle name. His first is Leroy.
*** Actually, the only people who have called him by his actual first name have been, to date: his father, Shannon, his first [[spoiler: late wife]], and people in his hometown.
** Timothy [=McGee=] is universally referred to as "[=McGee=]" by everyone.
*** Except that sometimes Abby calls him Timmy.
*** ''And'' Gibbs has referred to both [=DiNozzo=] and [=McGee=] by their respective first names, usually after particularly traumatic events.
-->--To wit: "He called me Tim." -[=McGee=]
** Averted for Director Jenny Shepherd, who goes by "Director Shepherd."
** Gibbs frequently calls Tony by his last name, [=DiNozzo.=]
* The FiveManBand on ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' are Cragen, Benson and Stabler, Munch, Fin, and Lake. Only Fin is usually referred to by his first name, and that's just because it's easier to pronounce than Tutuola; Fin is in fact a nickname for his given name, "Odafin".
** Although there are other layers to this one, as in real life. Benson and Stabler call each other "Liv" and "El", which, being PlatonicLifePartners, makes sense. Alexandra Cabot was always called Alex by everyone, and it was noted (by their [[LesYay shippers]], unsurprisingly) that she was one of the few people who called Benson "Olivia", and, on occasion, "Liv". Similarly, everyone called Casey Novak "Casey", while they called her ReplacementScrappy "Greylek". Occasionally someone else calls Benson "Liv" - you can then be sure that [[YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious the shit is about to hit the fan]].
*** Alex Cabot was unique in that she referred to ''everyone'' by their first name - including Huang and even Cragen. Olivia isn't that special after all.
** Averted by Cragen, who always refers to his detectives and [=ADA=]s by their first name (except for the aforementioned Greylek), befitting his role as TeamDad. He's the only character to refer to Munch as "John". Played very straight in reverse, however - nobody ''ever'' refers to Cragen as "Donald" or "Don", and address him by his title instead (again typical for a parental figure).
** Dr. Huang is almost never referred to as "George", not even by Cragen or Benson, perhaps in deference to his role as TheShrink. On the other hand, Dr. Warner usually refers to Benson and Stabler as "Olivia" and "Elliot", and in turn, they always address her as "Melinda" (though when people are talking ''about'' her, she's always "Warner").
* ''{{Bones}}'' has (Seeley) Booth, (Temperance) Brennan, (Jack) Hodgins, (Daniel) Goodman, and (Lance) Sweets. When Hodgins and Angela Montenegro (who ''does'' go by her first name) are dating, even she calls him "Hodgins." Even when he ''proposes''.
** Brennan usually refers to her interns by title and last name, though everyone else uses their given names. (It is also pointed out that her use of "Mr." or "Mrs." is a subtle reminder that the intern in question doesn't yet have a doctorate.) This also serves to indicate how much closer her intern/mentor relationship was with Zack, whom she did address by given name.
** Booth almost exclusively addresses Brennan as "Bones" (and is the only person allowed to do so), not "Temperance", and ''never'' "Tempe"; even in the hallucination/dream she was "Bren". There were a couple of FirstNameBasis from Booth in season one, but none since TheTeaser of '''The Woman In Limbo''' (one of the most dramatic moments of the entire show.)
** Sweets is called by his first name by both of his girlfriends.
*** Hmm, is his name Lancelot?
* No one calls Christopher Turk by his first name on ''{{Scrubs}}.'' Not even his wife Carla to whom he has been married for the past few seasons. Not even his [[HeterosexualLifePartners Heterosexual Life Partner]] J.D. Kelso also thought his name was Turkleton and referred to him as such on many occasions; he was shocked to learn that his surname was really Turk, but decided he liked Turkleton better.
--->'''Kelso:''' [''drunk''] That's your ''first'' name.\\
'''Turk:''' You think my name is ''Turk Turkleton''?\\
'''Kelso:''' [''seeing Carla walk up''] And Mrs. Turkleton! '''The Turkeltons!'''
** Carla does call Turk by his first name when she's mad or when they're having sex.
--->'''Turk:''' Baby, are you mad when we're having sex?\\
'''Carla:''' Sometimes...
** Turk's brother calls him Chrissy. JD's brother does call him Christopher.
* Rimmer and Lister in ''RedDwarf''. Taken to the point that when they're being affectionate (whether mockingly or genuinely so) it's not Arnie and Dave, but Rimsie and Listy.
** The only time that they do refer to the other as 'David' and 'Arnold', is in the third season episode "Polymorph". But then, YMMV as they aren't really themselves, because the titular Polymorph had stolen an emotion from each(fear from Lister and anger from Rimmer).
** Rimmer has such a cold relationship with his mother that she addresses him in letters as 'Dear Rimmer'.
** In "Kryten", Rimmer asks Lister not to call him "Rimmer" in front of the girls ("You always emphasise the 'Rim', it makes me sound like a lavatory disinfectant"), and a genuinely baffled Lister says "Well, what ''should'' I call you?"
* From the StargateVerse:
** On ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'', Colonel Jack O'Neill calls his civilian scientist "Daniel" but his military officer second "Carter". Daniel Jackson, on the other hand, addresses both his military comrades by their first names, which continued even after O'Neill was promoted to Brigadier General and put in charge of the SGC. Samantha Carter calls him "Daniel" and O'Neill "Colonel/General" or "sir". Teal'c is addressed by [[OnlyOneName his only name]], and calls Jack "O'Neill" and Daniel by his [[FullNameBasis full name]], "Daniel Jackson".
*** This is not out of the ordinary for a military situation at all, at least for Samantha Carter's situation. Daniel is a civilian (no military rank) and a close friend and thus can be referred to even on missions as Daniel (rather than Dr. Jackson, as she does in the first episode), while O'Neill is her commanding officer. It would be inappropriate for her to refer to him by his first name while on duty, and 95% of the show is the team 'on duty'. Hence the Colonel/General and sir, even though they are [[UnresolvedSexualTension close]] friends. It's worth noting that in an appearance on ''Stargate Universe,'' O'Neill did address Carter as "Sam." Most members of the fandom are of the opinion that "sir" and "Carter" have evolved into the characters' pet names for one another.
*** And when Mitchell came along, he addressed Daniel as "Jackson" and Carter as "Sam", and they both reciprocated. Which may be excusable in a military setting as at that point Carter was a Colonel herself.
*** Teal'c using full names actually makes sense, as his own people have just one (unless you consider the apostrophe a divider). In his mind, he's referring to them as befits one warrior to another.
** On ''StargateAtlantis'', it's also commonplace. Teyla notably subverts this by usually calling John Sheppard by his first name unless she also uses his rank in combination with "Sheppard". Rodney has only called his best friend "John" a handful of times in the entire series, preferring first Major then Colonel Sheppard, or just Sheppard. Sheppard himself uses both "Rodney" and "[=McKay=]" equally[[hottip:*:Of course, "Rodney" is not his first name. It's ''[[EmbarrassingFirstName Meredith]]''. When he meets an alternate version on himself, he's distressed that people call that version Rod, which he could never get anyone to call him.]] Ronon calls everyone except Teyla by their surname, who is in fact NEVER referred to as either "Emmagan" or her full name (introductions aside, obviously).
*** No one ever refers to Ronon as "Dex". At most, he's referred to by his full name "Ronon Dex".
** All this, by the way, leaves poor fans very confused as to how they're supposed to refer to the characters.
* Despite being long-time partners and joined-at-the-hip best friends, {{Starsky and Hutch}} simply do not use each others' first names, no matter how dire or informal the circumstances.
** ''[[HoYay Pet names]]'', on the other hand. . .
* Kramer from ''{{Seinfeld}}''. Even after his first name was revealed, people still kept using his last name. Also true for Newman.
* ''StarTrek''. Sure, [=McCoy=] and occasionally Spock called Kirk "Jim", but that's about it in [[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]]. [=McCoy=] himself was sometimes known by the nickname "Bones", but no one called him "Leonard". Sulu and Uhura's first names weren't even known for decades. Chekov had his first name from the beginning, but it was only used a few times, and, of course, Montgomery Scott was "Scotty" to everyone.
** Uhura's ''still'' [[NoNameGiven isn't known]]: while various people have theories (for instance, Nichelle Nichols thinks it should be "Nyota", and she would know if anyone), nothing has been uttered onscreen and thus placed into canon.
** In the 2009 movie she refuses to tell Kirk her first name. When Spock calls her "Nyota", Kirk asks, "So, her first name is Nyota?" and Spock interrupts with, "I have no comment on the matter."
** Vulcans are an interesting case: their single (pronounceable-to-humans) name usually seems to function like a surname, making it '''impossible''' to achieve FirstNameBasis with them.
** In DeepSpaceNine, Keiko would more often than not refer to her husband Miles as "O'Brien"
*** In private she always called him Miles; this may be a reflection of her Asian heritage.
** Appropriately averted when Odo became romantically involved with Kira and started calling her "Nerys" in private. (Well, actually, given Bajoran name order, he was switching ''to'' LastNameBasis, but...)
** Notably averted in Next Gen and newer series, however. While characters regularly refer to each other by their titles and last names while on the job, it's not at all unusual for characters who are friends to refer to each other by their first names. And then there's Seven, who is always (of necessity) referred to by her first "name".
*** Although Seven does have a human name (Annika Hansen) which is used during flashbacks to her as a child, or when she's hypnotized to work in a power plant, or when she's using a holodeck simulation to have a relationship with Chakotay, etc. Normally, though, she insists on being called "Seven", even when the other rescued Borg use their original names. Go figure.
*** She mentions at one point that while she ''was'' once Annika Hansen, she's ''been'' Seven for most of her adult life, so thats how she thinks of herself. Its actually a conceit as her full "name" was ''Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero-One'', but when Janeway asked if they could shorten it to just Seven, she agreed, dubbing it "inaccurate, but acceptable".
*** Except she's no longer the "Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero-One", having been disconnected from the Collective.
** In the episode "Lower Decks" (TropeNamer for LowerDeckEpisode) the lower deck characters are shocked [[hottip:* :not [[{{Casablanca}} Shocked, SHOCKED!]] ]] when Ben (their lower deck version of Guinan) talks to Commander Riker.
--->'''Ben:''' Hi, Will.\\
'''Riker:''' Ben. How you doing?\\
'''Lavelle:''' You call him Will?\\
'''Ben:''' Why not?\\
'''Lavelle:''' He's second in command of this ship, that's why not.\\
'''Ben:''' I'm not Starfleet, I'm a civilian. When he's in here, he wants to be treated like a civilian.\\
'''Lavelle:''' Riker? I bet he sleeps in his uniform.
** Justified in the case of Dax in DeepSpaceNine, where we learn that Joined Trills take the name of their Symbiote as their surname, which replaces their original one. Only Sisko, Kira and Bashir occasionally call her Jadzia.
* In ''TheProfessionals'', Ray Doyle is either called Ray or Doyle, but William Bodie is always Bodie, never William.
* On ''That70sShow'', everybody (except Jackie, Kitty and Red) calls Steven Hyde "Hyde", and everybody (except Jackie and Kitty) calls Michael Kelso "Kelso".
** Also, Hyde almost always calls Eric by his last name, though no one else does.
* On ''TheHoneymooners'' Ralph and his other friends call Ed Norton "Norton".
* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', the Fifth Doctor's companion Vislor Turlough was always referred to as Turlough.
** Also, Mr. Saxon in the revived series. Despite his numerous mentions throughout the third series, and the fact that he had been running for Prime Minister since before that series even began, his first name is barely mentioned until the finale, by which time it's become pretty much irrelevant.
--> '''Mrs. Saxon''': [[DyingMomentOfAwesome 'Till death do us part, Harry!]]
** The Eleventh Doctor ''sometimes'' calls Amy Pond by her first name, but just as often calls her "Pond", as in "Come along, Pond[[AlternateUniverse (s)]]!" Possibly this is because he preferred "Amelia".
** The First Doctor always called one of his first companions Ian by his second name, 'Chesterton' (and frequently got it wrong.)
* (Damian) Spinelli and (Jasper) Jacks from ''GeneralHospital'' (though the latter is usually spelled out "Jax").
* On ''ThirtyRock'', Liz Lemon has called Jack Donaghy by his first name for most of the series, having only called him "Mr. Donaghy" or "sir" in the first few episodes. Despite this, he continues to call her "Lemon", which led to this slip-up when he tried to pass her off as his girlfriend:
-->'''Jack''': This is my live-in girlfriend, Lemon.\\
'''Liz''': Elizabeth.\\
'''Jack''': Elizabeth.
** Notably, Jack started out by calling Liz by her first name, just like all his other employees. Switching to using "Lemon", ironically, occured when they became friends.
** Being in a low-level position and exceedingly polite to boot, Kenneth calls everyone "Mr./Mrs./Miss [last name]" or "sir/ma'am". In one episode, Liz noted that he "calls Tracy's lizard 'sir'."
* (Erin) Silver from the new series of [[BeverlyHills90210 90210]]. Even her mother and sister call her by surname.
* A rare aversion, given its professional setting, occurs in ''TheWestWing''. The entirety of the central cast refer to one another by their first names (though "CJ" is obviously a nickname, her full name is heard numerous times). The only real exceptions are the President himself - who is occasionally addressed with his first name by either his wife or very close friends, and even then usually in private - and Mrs. Landingham.
** It is strongly suggested that the reason why Mrs. Landingham isn't on a FirstNameBasis with everyone is because all the staff are following the President's example: when the two first met, he was a high school student and she was his father's secretary; he once tried to call her "Dolores" and she insisted "Mrs. Landingham, please" - and he stayed on a LastNameBasis with her ever since, even after becoming President.
* ''SexAndTheCity''-- Carrie was usually on a first name basis with her boyfriends through the years (with the exception of NoNameGiven Mr. Big) but for some reason referred to Jack Berger by his last name only.
* In ''Dharma & Greg'', Greg's father Edward always referred to Dharma's father Larry as "Finkelstein".
* ''Series/{{Alias}}'' -- Since everyone's in the CIA, most of the characters in Alias go by surnames -- Sydney calls the male lead "Vaughn" even while giving birth to his daughter. This meant that his short-lived Season 3 wife earned a double take from the audience every time she called him "Michael," seeding distrust and dislike of the character well before her reveal as TheMole.
** {{Lampshaded}} in this exchange:
-->'''Sydney''': Vaughn?\\
'''Vaughn''': How come you never call me Michael?\\
'''Sydney''': I call you Michael sometimes.\\
[{{beat}}]\\
'''Sydney''': Vaughn.
* ''PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'' has Ami starting out calling Usagi by her surname. An entire episode is devoted to getting her to use "Usagi-chan" and "Rei-chan", and we later find out that her mother, a doctor, is only able to communicate with Ami via messages on a whiteboard.
* Likewise, in ''[[ChouseishinSeries Genseishin Justiriser]]'', Yuka eventually graduates from saying "Date-kun" to the {{honorific}}-free "Shouta". Shouta, however, is a bit slow on the uptake, but Shinya pays attention and remarks on it.
* On ''CriminalMinds'', all but one of the main characters are typically referred to by their last names. Prentiss, Morgan, Rossi, and Garcia have been referred to by their first names more frequently in later seasons, but last names are still the most common.
** In one of his first episodes, Rossi tells his teammates to call him Dave. Hotch at least seems to do this consistently. Likewise, Rossi tends to call Hotch by his first name.
** And while JJ is the only character not referred to by her last name, it's short for Jennifer Jareau, so they're not just using her first name either.
** It should be noted that when talking with each other, Morgan and Garcia don't really use ''either'' given name, preferring intimate nicknames.
** J.J. also rarely calls Reid by his last name; she is the only one to call him "Spence".
** The only character to go completely by first name is Elle Greenaway, who disappeared early in the second season anyway.
* On ''TopGear'', presenter Richard Hammond is always "Hammond" to his co-presenter James May, but Jeremy Clarkson is "Jeremy" or even "Jezza" (unless May is annoyed with him, in which case it's "CLARKSON!") On the other hand, Clarkson and Hammond are on a first-name basis with each other and with May.
** They all refer to each other with their last names fairly often, especially when communicating over the phone/radio on a large challenge or race e.g.: "May!" "Clarkson!" "Where are you and Hamster?" "We're just entering Switzerland, what about you?" as mentioned in the Real Life section, this is quite common between male friends in Britain where the surname almost becomes a nickname of sorts.
* In ''TheMentalist'', it's generally seen as jerky or disrespectful for anyone to call anyone in the workplace by first name. Van Pelt, however, is commonly called 'Grace' because she's a rookie (or used to be), Bosco and Lisbon are intimate enough to do this no kidding), [[DaChief for some bizarre reason]], Jane always calls Minelli 'Virgil', and [[YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious we know that things are getting bad]] when Jane calls Lisbon "Teresa". Or that he's pulling another BunnyEarsLawyer UndercoverAsLovers gambit, which, this being [[TheChessmaster Patrick Jane]], is far more likely.
* {{Castle}} and Beckett. Initially, she only called him Rick when she was teasing him, but in Season 3, she occasionally used his first name [[YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious in serious situations]]. He's called her Kate a handful of times, all of them dramatic: [[spoiler:once when when she was emotionally upset and he was trying to stop her leaving the station, continuously shouting it out frantically when he was trying to find her in her exploded apartment, and several times in the season three finale episode]].
* In ''TJHooker'', everybody calls him 'Hooker'. Even his ex-wife. His given name, Thomas, was only mentioned once in the entire run of the series, and never again after that.
* In ''{{Psych}}'' everybody calls Burton Guster "Gus." Also Lassiter is on a last name basis with everyone.
** Shawn never refers to Lassiter anything other than "Lassie". Lassiter, while initially annoyed, eventually accepted it as an inevitability, or is just ignoring it, hoping the annoying creature claiming to be psychic will go away.
* On ''TheOC'', Summer persists in calling Seth by his last name, Cohen, even after they're in a relationship.
* In ''{{Skins}}'', James Cook's first name is used so rarely that it wouldn't be surprising if most of the main characters don't even know it.
* It isn't clear whether or [[FirstNameBasis not]] this applies to ''{{Leverage}}'''s [[OnlyOneName Parker]]. Also, Alec Hardison and Jim Sterling are almost never referred to by their first names.
* On ''Series/AreYouBeingServed'', the staff of Grace Brothers - apart from very rare occasions - always addressed one another formally ("Mr. Lucas", "Mr. Humphries", "Miss Brahms", etc.). Among the characters, Captain Peacock and Mr. Grainger tended to use each other's given names (Stephen and Ernest, respectively) most frequently in private conversation.
* On ''Series/{{Wings}}'', Roy usually refers to everyone using their last names. (Unless he's trying to suck up to them for some reason.)
* On ''LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'', the two original partners typically only referred to each other as "Goren" and "Eames." When Eames occasionally referred to Goren as "Bobby," it was universally an example of YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious.
* On ''AufWiedersehenPet'', Moxey's first name (Albert) is only used twice in the show, and the first time wasn't until the end of the second series. Sometime between these two uses, one character claimed that Moxey was his full name, although the police call him "Albert Moxey" only an episode or two later.
* Maxwell Sheffield, being British, refers to Fran as [[TheNanny "Miss Fine"]] even as they start dating.
** He called her "Miss Fine" once or twice even after ''they were married.''
* Douglas Fargo of ''{{Eureka}}'' is almost universally referred to as "Fargo". The only people who ever call him any derivative of "Douglas" are [[{{Crossover}} Claudia]] from ''{{Warehouse 13}}'' (who does it in response to his claim that "everybody calls me Fargo") and himself (one of his passwords is "[[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Dougie the Vampire Slayer]]").
* Everyone in ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman'' called Sully by his surname. This was probably partly because he [[{{EmbarrassingFirstName}} was embarrassed by his name.]] (It was Byron.)
* PrisonBreak: Varies depending on the character and their relationship. For example, Mahone calls Michael Scofield in season two when he's chasing him, varies it in season three (when they're uneasy allies), and Michael in season four when they become friendly.
* ''{{Primeval}}'': Very few people call Nick Cutter, James Lester, and Capt.Tom Ryan by their first name, and Capt.Becker's name isn't even ''mentioned'' in the series. {{Word of God}} says it's Hilary. No wonder he never mentioned it.
* In ''The Beiderbecke Trilogy'', the main characters are most commonly refered to as Mr Chaplain and Mrs Swinburne. In the second serial, the latter is utterly surprised that the former calls her "Jill", and he admits that he only did so because "I'm shit scared." This comes after the two have been in a sexual relationship for over two years, and known each other far longer.
* Famously, ''InspectorMorse'''s full name [[spoiler:Endeavour]] wasn't revealed until 1997.
* In ''Series/YoungBlades'', D'Artagnan's first name is never revealed, and even his ''father'' (the D'Artagnan from ''TheThreeMusketeers'') calls him D'Artagnan.
* On ''TheInspectorLynleyMysteries'', the titular Inspector Lynley calls his partner Sergeant Havers one of two things: "Sergeant" or "Havers." He does call her "[[FirstNameBasis Barbara]]" when she visits his family in Cornwall, but when they get tangled up in a mystery - [[BusmansHoliday as they inevitably do]] - and they're back on duty, well, to quote Barbara, "It's bye-bye 'Barbara' and hello 'Havers'!" He also calls her Barbara [[YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious during particularly intense or emotional moments]], beginning in their second episode together ("Well Schooled in Murder") when her father dies and continuing in this vein through the next several series. By the sixth series, however, after [[spoiler:he leaned on her after his wife's death]], [[FirstNameBasis he calls her 'Barbara' almost exclusively]], reverting to 'Havers' only when he is cross with her; this signals a fundamental shift in their relationship. In contrast to her partner, Barbara never calls him ''anything'' other than 'sir', as he's her superior officer (and a Lord to boot, while she is working-class). Still, the ''way'' she says it evolves, from stiffly formal to fond and often teasing.
* Handled interestingly on ''GilligansIsland''. The Howells are always refered to by the other regular characters as "Mr. Howell" and "Mrs. Howell", but are on a first-name basis with each other (though "Lovey" is a pet name, not her actual given name, which is Eunice). Ginger Grant is mostly called "Ginger", but is sometimes called "Miss Grant", especially by Mr. Howell. Mary Ann, though, is almost always just called "Mary Ann" to the extent that many fans wouldn't know the character's last name (it's Summers). The Professor and the Skipper have names, but even fewer fans know them, as they're always just referred to by their titles (their names are Roy Hinkley and Jonas Grumby, respectively). Gilligan himself is the really odd case, as he is never called any other name. It's not even known if that's his given name or his surname.
* (Stuart) Minkus on ''BoyMeetsWorld''.
* Mitchell of ''BeingHuman'' takes until season two to let on to the viewer that this is actually his surname (his given name is John). Justified, as being a century-old vampire he's of a generation where last name basis would have been prevalent.
* Homeland. Nicholas Brody is called by everyone, including his wife, "Brody".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Every ''{{Starflyer 59}}'' release since 2001 lists the last name and first initial of each band member, rather than their full names. Apparently the band would also address each other by last name during tours.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* In ''BloomCounty'' and its sequel strips, Michael Binkley is simply "Binkley" to everyone else. Including ''his own father''.
* [[{{Popeye}} Thimble Theatre]]: (J. Wellington) Wimpy
* ''{{Candorville}}'' notes the DoubleStandard in one strip from the 2008 U.S. presidential election sason, pointing out that the news always talked about "Obama and Hillary" instead of "Obama and Clinton."
[[/folder]]

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* It is worth noting that family names come before given names in Japanese usage.
* In FullMetalPanic, Sousuke calls everyone by their last names, mostly because of military discipline, and has actually had to be ordered to use first names.
* In ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'', Rei Ayanami and Shinji Ikari both do this with each other; he only says her first name [[SayMyName in unusual situations]]. This is one of the things changed in the English dub.
** And Gendo, when people aren't calling him "Commander" (or "Father"). Likewise Fuyutsuki. And does anyone know any of the bridge crew's first names except Maya's? Kaji addresses Misato as Katsuragi. Oh yeah, and ''Kaji''.
* In ''FullmetalAlchemist'', Lt. Colonel Hughes is referred to so rarely by his first name (Maes) that the casual fan or someone who hasn't seen very many episodes would probably only know him as "Hughes."
*** Besides, in Spanish "Maes" sounds a lot like "Maese" which is a rather archaic term that was used as "Master" to respectfully address someone, specially in old written media, so you could think that 1) he was being very polite and 2) it would be nice if we could know his first name. Then again, only if you have read old books and are familiar with the word.
** This seems to go for a good chunk of the military characters, actually. Even when screaming to each other in fear or pain in the manga, about 85% of the time or more, it's either the rank or the last name.
** The only reason anyone would know Mustang's first name is the fact that Hughes seems to always refer to him on a FirstNameBasis. Roy also seems to be the only person to ever address Hughes as Maes.
** There are two Armstrongs. It could get potentially confusing.
*** Usually, Alex Armstrong is referred to by fans as Armstrong (since he was introduced much earlier) and Olivia Armstrong is referred to as Olivia ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS or Olivier]]). They are also sometimes differentiated by their ranks: Major Armstrong (Alex) vs General Armstrong (Olivia). Nobody ever calls Alex by his first name.
**** Well, nobody except Olivier, but they're siblings, so that doesn't count.
** Late in the manga, Hawkeye smokes out Envy impersonating Mustang by claiming that:
-->'''Hawkeye:''' When we're alone, the colonel always calls me 'Riza.'
-->'''Envy:''' Damn! I ''[[EveryoneCanSeeIt knew]]'' you two were--
-->'''Hawkeye:''' Fooled you. *bang*
*** They almost exclusively use one another's ranks, only rarely bothering even with surnames, to the extent that Riza addressing some other colonel or Roy being promoted to general or something would pose a minor emotional challenge, although there are enough lieutenants around that Roy can't identify it with her so closely. In this case at least this serves rather like the Mulder and Scully situation [[ProperlyParanoid mentioned below]].
** The only person in the military who's refer to by his first name is Edward. The only person who doesn't is Mustang.
* Sakaki and Kagura from ''AzumangaDaioh'' are only known by their family names; no given names are ever shown for them, leaving fanfic authors with a few problems. (At least one fic has ended up having Kagura's father calling her just 'Kagura' in one scene.)
** Also possibly worth mentioning, in the few scant minutes of screen time Ayumu had before being nicknamed after her hometown, she was called "Kasuga" by Yomi. Would she have continued to be called by her family name instead of her given name had Tomo not been quite so clever? The world may never know...
* Signum of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' always refers to Fate as "Testarossa". Since Signum calls everyone else by their first name, and she and Fate are close friends, this seems to be treated as a term of endearment and/or respect for her long-time rival.
** She continues to call Fate this after Fate's last name stops being "Testarossa."
*** Except the "Testarossa" name never completely disappeared; it just got turned into a middle name, usually rendered as just an initial (but explicitly stated at least once).
*** Vita also calls Fate "Testarossa." Shamal initially refers to Fate as "Testarossa-chan," but by [[NanohaStrikerS StrikerS]], starts calling her "Fate-chan."
** In the [[NanohaStrikerS StrikerS]] supplementary manga, Subaru initially calls Teana "Lanster-san," and Teana refers to her as "Cadet Nakajima" while explaining that they do not need to become friends. After Teana meets Subaru's sister Ginga and learns more about her, she decides to start calling her Subaru, [[{{Tsundere}} claiming that it makes no sense to call her by her last name now that she knows her sister]], and Subaru decides to start calling her "Tea". Erio and Caro initially have a bit of trouble calling each other by their first names.
** An interesting use occurs with the Lieze twins; they request that Nanoha and Fate refer to them by their given names- Aria and Lotte- when addressing them individually, and calling them "Lieze" when speaking to both of them.
* Youhei Sunohara of ''{{CLANNAD}}'' usually goes by his last name with the exception of his little sister Mei.
** No, Kyou uses Youhei too, she calls everyone by their first name.
** It's also a subtle plot point in Kyou's route. Tomoya calls her Kyou but Ryou Fujibayashi, which she tries to get him to change because he feels he isn't as close to her as Kyou and loves her sister instead. He does start calling her Ryou, but... Well, it ''is'' Kyou's route.
* In ''GundamWing'', Lucrezia Noin goes by her last name, and nobody, not even her romantic interest Zechs, uses the first unless they're calling her by her full name.
** {{Fanon}} often has Zechs give her a cute nickname, such as "Lu", when they become a real couple.
* in ''KareKano'', the two leads continue calling each other "Arima" and "Miyazawa" after they've [[spoiler:''slept together'']]. They don't get to "Soichiro" and "Yukino" until a few months later.
* ''YuGiOh'' has a lot of this. In the Japanese version and manga, characters such as KATSUYA Jounouchi and HIROTO Honda fit, and tend to only get their first names used by family. The tendency to refer to Kaiba by his surname carries over to the dub.
** Bakura is a definite example in the manga and Japanese anime, with his given name being Ryou. The dub may or may not be an example as he is never given a second name, so it's possible his first name is intended to be Bakura.
* Shuichi in ''{{Gravitation}}'' continues to refer to boyfriend Eiri Yuki as simply 'Yuki' (no honorific) even after learning that it isn't his real surname.
* {{Naruto}} occasionally does this, with some characters, like Gaara, referring to Sasuke as "Uchiha." The Third Hokage is often referred to by his last name until his first name is revealed in the databooks, although in one translation, [[spoiler:The Fourth Hokage]] calls him "Hiruzen-sama." Shiho calls Naruto "Uzumaki-kun", while referring to Shikamaru (whom she has a crush on) and Jiraiya (who only has one name) by their given names, so it's unclear to what degree she uses last names.
* In the ''SuzumiyaHaruhi'' novels, Kyon refers to everybody except Haruhi by their last name. In the ninth novel, he strangely also calls the mysterious interface, Kuyo, by her first name.
** Kyon is confused as to which of Kuyo Suo's names is her given name and which is her surname when they are introduced, as she introduces herself in both orders; he calls her Kuyo-san most likely because that's what Sasaki calls her.
** Also worth noting is that he never uses honorifics when addressing or speaking about anyone other that Mikuru Asahina. He also continues to refer to her as "Asahina-san" even though she told him to feel free to use her given name early in the series.
*** He does use honorifics with the upperclassmen, but it's almost always -san and not [[SenpaiKohai -senpai]]; in later novels he starts to refer to Kimidori as "Kimidori-senpai".
** Most fans also refer to Itsuki and Yuki as Koizumi and Nagato, respectively. Speaking of which, Itsuki is almost never referred to by his first name.
** Haruhi refers to the entire Brigade (including Yuki) by their first names, ''except'' Koizumi, which is probably why most fans ended up doing the same.
** Several characters in the series aren't even given first names. Tsuruya, Kunikida, Taniguchi, Sasaki...
* In {{Bleach}}, Ichigo (Kurosaki), (Orihime) Inoue and (Uryu) Ishida are on a LastNameBasis with one another, including (Yasutora) Sado, though he does call Ichigo by his first name (Ichigo misread "Sado" as "Chad", so that more or less counts). Rukia is on LastNameBasis with the gang except for Ichigo and Renji. Ishida is on LastNameBasis with most everyone (excluding some minor characters), and the only person who refers to ''him'' by his given name in the Japanese version is his father (and later Pesche). Following up on that, nearly every Shinigami in the series addresses the ''entire'' gang exclusively by their surnames, aside from Yoruichi (to Ichigo), Rangiku (to Ichigo, Renji and Orihime), Ikkaku and Yumichika (to Renji and Ichigo), and Kenpachi (with Yachiru; to Ichigo).
** Captain (Toshiro) Hitsugaya is very particular about this, although he tends to insist that people also address him as a captain.
** With or without addressing their respective ranks, most seated officers call one another by their surnames (such as Ukitake and Kyoraku), with the majority of the fandom following suit; aside from characters that are related by birth (the Kuchikis or Kotetsus), they call every other officer by their surnames.
** Rukia Kuchiki's a bit of a complex case; because all of them outrank her, nearly everyone within the Gotei 13 (aside from Renji, Byakuya and Hanataro - the latter because she preferred as such) calls her Kuchiki, and due to her lone wolf demeanor at most points, she only (if ever) interacts with them while on-duty. Since Rukia's still a noble, if the -san (Mister, Miss, Mrs), or -dono (Lord, Lady) honorifics are in use, then they're being polite and respectful. As for Rukia herself, due to her upbringing as nobility, she tends to be respectful towards those of higher status or rank than her, addressing her superiors by rank and surname (i.e. "Captain Hitsugaya" and "Lieutenant Matsumoto"), sometimes with the -dono honorific (i.e. "Lord" Kaien and "Lady" Miyako).
** Orihime herself tends to address everyone except Tatsuki by their last name.
* In YuYuHakusho, most characters call Kuwabara by his last name, except for his sister and Yukina. Shinobu Sensui tends to go by his last name most often, and this is significant because [[spoiler:his first name changes based on which personality is in control]].
* The first episode of DigimonAdventure lists the full Japanese names of the characters, but Izzy (Koushiro Izumi) is the only one whose Americanised name is based on his Japanese surname. Even his parents call him Izzy.
** Actually "Izzy" has a potential logical (albeit weak) explanation: when he was first learning to talk, "Koushiro" turned into "Izzy" (don't ask me how but it could happen) and it stuck.
* The typical mode of address in MuhyoAndRoji. Tohru Muhyo allows Jiro "Roji" Kusano to call him "Muhyo" instead of "Executor Muhyo".
* Almost nonexistent in OnePiece, due to relatively few characters even having last names, but some of Zoro's opponents call him Roronoa.
** Though it can be noted that in OnePiece pirate crew titles function much the same way as last names. Luffy's opponents rarely call him Luffy, or even Monkey (thank god, that would sound ridiculous) but instead tend towards calling him Strawhat. Franky, who started out as a villain and got used to this, still calls him that. Other examples include Whitebeard and Redhair. Shanks switches abruptly to this from being on last name basis with Edward D. Teach when he meets him for the first time since he has adopted the title of Blackbeard. Played straight with Rob Lucci, and a few other villains however. Ruthlessly averted with Garp and Roger, both of which always go by their first names, and no titles at all.
* [[FirstNameBasis First Names]] are a rarity to begin with in ''LegendOfGalacticHeroes,'' but absolutely ''nobody'' calls Yang Wen-Li by his given name (except his father, in a single flashback). Even his friends whom he calls by their first names call him "Yang." His wife just calls him ''anata'' (roughly, "darling").
** Reinhard calls Kircheis by his last name because as a child he decided that it sounded better than his first name (Siegfried). Kircheis, however, calls Reinhard by first name (with the appropriate honorifics, of course).
* An understandable standard in ''Anime/{{Monster}}'', since most characters are in the professional field and do not know each other that well. The only person who ever seems to call (Kenzo) Tenma by his first name is his fiancee.
* [[LuckyStar Kagami Hiiragi]] realizes how much time she spends in Konata's class after a short scene showing her own class calling her Hiiragi while Konata's calls her Kagami.
* Kanda ''[[EmbarrassingFirstName Yu]]'' of ''DGrayMan'' tends to [[BerserkButton threaten people who don't address him this way with violent death.]]
* In MahouSenseiNegima, Kazumi Asakura usually goes by "Asakura", which is strange, given that practically everyone else in the class calls each other by their first names.
* In ''LupinIII'', (Arsene) Lupin the Third and (Daisuke) Jigen might as well have OnlyOneName for all the times anybody's used their given names in the show. Goemon Ishikawa the Thirteenth and Fujiko Mine, on the other hand, mainly go by their first names.
* Otonashi, Iwasawa, and Naoi from ''Anime/AngelBeats!'' are always referred to by their last names, even after their first names are revealed (Yuzuru, Asami, and Ayato, respectively).
* Surnames are said to be uncommon in the world of ''DragonBall'', but the main character, Son Goku, has one. While most characters refer to him as Goku, his given name, Bulma, his first friend, refers to him exclusively by his surname. Piccolo and Tenshinhan often do the same but not always.
* Except for a few racers and characters in ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula'', most of them are rarely called by their first names, like Naoki Shinjyo, Karl Lichter von Randoll, to name a few.
* Yamato of {{Ultimo}} refers to his crush Sayama by her last name, and at one point, while thinking about what life with her would be like in the future, realizes that her name would not be "Sayama" any more.
* The general rule between people in {{Bakuman}}, even (so far) between Mashiro and his fiancee Azuki. Mashiro and Takagi refer to each other by nicknames while speaking with each other, but with last names when talking about each other to other people, such as their editors.
** When [[spoiler:Hiramaru gets together with Aoki]], he notices that she's still calling him by his last name, while he uses an abbreviated and highly affectionate version of her first name. [[spoiler:His editor]] claims that's proof that he's just a friend she has for tea, [[spoiler:in order to manipulate him into becoming depressed enough to write well]].
* In TriangleHeart3, most characters address each other by first names, but interestingly enough, Kyouya and Shinobu, the OfficialCouple, refer to each other by their last names.
* Considering how close most of the ''WanderingSon'' cast is, it's odd that most of them refer to certain characters by their last names. To a new reader or viewer, you might even think the names are their first names, especially since several other characters are on a FirstNameBasis with everyone. Shuichi is always Nitori, Yoshino is always called Takatsuki, and Saori is called Chiba by almost everyone but Sasa.
* The main character of DawnTsumetaiTe is only ever referred to - by his friends, his LoveInterest, and his JerkAss MadDoctor handler - by his family name.
* In ''Manga/HappyYarouWedding'', Yuuhi never makes the switch from calling his lover Todou to Akira, even when he becomes a part of the family and Todou becomes ''his'' last name.
* In ToAruMajutsuNoIndex[=/=]ToAruKagakuNoRailgun: Kaori Kanzaki, Mikoto Misaka, Ruiko Saten, Kazari Uiharu, sometimes Touma Kamijou and a few others.
* Yurie in ''{{Kamichu}}'' generally addresses Kenji as Ninomiya-kun, though she switches to Kenji-kun in the scene where she reaches out to rescue him from the typhoon she accidentally created. Unusually, the English dub retains this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In the {{Tintin}} series, Captain Haddock is never called by anything other than his last name. Even his best friend, Tintin, is not entirely sure what his first name is.
--> '''Haddock (after a blow to the head gives him amnesia):''' Who's captain here, you or me?
--> '''Tintin:''' You, of course. You're Captain Haddock.
--> '''Haddock:''' How ridiculous! What's my first name, then?
--> '''Tintin:''' Archibald, isn't it?
[[/folder]]

->'''Fry:''' Turanga?

->'''Bender:''' Philip?

* In ''SWATKats'', Commander Feral's first name (Ulysses) is used only once in the entire series.

* Chloe Valens of ''TalesofLegendia'' would prefer to call people by their last names.

* In ToAruMajutsuNoIndex[=/=]ToKagakuNoRailgun: Kaori Kanzaki, Mikoto Misaka, Ruiko Saten, Kazari Uiharu, sometimes Touma Kamijou and a few others.

* In ''{{Dexter}}'', he and his co-workers mostly refer to each other by their last names. The exception to this is Dexter himself, due to his sister being an officer in the same precinct; several times someone asks for Officer Morgan and just gets Debra and Dexter confused as to which one of them is being summoned, so it's more a matter of practicality than anything else. (Although Doakes still refers to Debra Morgan as 'Morgan' outside of work most of the time.)
** Once Deb makes detective, this becomes easier.

* On ''CriminalMinds'', all but one of the main characters are typically referred to by their last names. Prentiss, Morgan, Rossi, and Garcia have been referred to by their first names more frequently in the most recent season, but last names are still the most common.

** ((CSI NY)) has (Don)Flack and (Sheldon)Hawkes, although their first names get used sometimes as well.

*** "Hellscream" is less of a last name and more of a nickname thanks to Grommash's (Grom's full name) very loud voice. It's mentioned in the novels that nicknames pass from father to son. Orgrim wasn't called "Doomhammer" until his father fell in battle and passed on his warhammer to his son. Thus, Garrosh didn't become Hellscream until Grom died fighting Mannoroth.

** Sean never refers to Lassiter anything other than "Lassie". Lassiter, while initially annoyed, eventually accepted it as an inevitability, or is just ignoring it, hoping the annoying creature claiming to be psychic will go away.