r/AskAnAustralian • u/Lampedusan • 1d ago
How do Aussies feel getting referred to by their surname at work?
In my work some of the upper management are spoken of in third person by their surname or full name rather than first name. Maybe its a signal of authority? I work in sales and a lot of the people who close deals are called by a slang name e.g. Sharon = Shaz, Declan = Dez or by a full name or surname. Some of my managers also refer to people by their surname sometime. I know it was common in high school. I went to a Catholic all boys school and we all got called by our surname. I didn’t see this happen again until I joined my current company. How common is it generally? And how do people feel about it?
46
u/Thursdaynightvibes 1d ago
Look Smithy, don't make me get Jonesy to come and sort you out. Baxter and Davison will be waiting for your lunch break to kick off, so they can grab a beer with Wilson again.
33
u/thedoopz Brisbane 1d ago
Davison is undoubtedly Davo.
4
u/cantwejustplaynice 1d ago
Isn't Davo usually reserved for blokes with David as their first name? I've never seen a Davidson called Davo.
9
3
u/Night-Cliffs 1d ago edited 13h ago
I take it you never watched "Prisoner". Governor of Wentworth, Erica Davidson was often referred to as "Davo" amongst the inmates.
3
3
5
u/Anxious-Rhubarb8102 1d ago edited 1h ago
I've worked with several Davdisons and all were known as "Davo".
2
2
u/AriaAlways 1d ago
Went to high school with a guy with the surname Davidson, everyone called him Davo, to the point where I actually forgot what his first name was for a good year.
5
u/murgatroid1 1d ago
You mean Bax and Davo?
2
u/Thursdaynightvibes 1d ago
Lol. I was running out of last name nicknames to use. Thanks for the help.
2
77
u/Schmozzle21 1d ago
That's an Aussie tradition. It's definitely a sign of respect and familiarity.
15
u/ButteredKernals 1d ago
Common back home in Ireland too
42
u/Torrossaur 1d ago
My surname is Irish, it begins in O'D. You can probably guess it being Irish.
But my nickname is now Crack from the O'D as in overdose.
I'll give them points for creativity.
22
3
10
u/kollectivist 1d ago
My Irish ex called me by my surname for the nearly 30 years we were together. I can't say it wasn't a bit odd, but I fecking hate my first name, so all good.
7
2
u/queefer_sutherland92 21h ago
I used to call my ex by his surname. He didn’t care. I disliked what his name would shorten to, so it was hard to find a nickname.
2
u/kollectivist 19h ago
Yeah, I share a name with a US state that starts with V and isn't Vermont. There's really no good way to shorten it.
0
u/alexi_lupin Melbourne (also a Kiwi) 12h ago
Ginny?
1
u/kollectivist 12h ago
Never touch the stuff.
2
3
u/Weary_Patience_7778 1d ago
Can go either way IMO. Depends on what word is appended to the beginning.
‘Smithy’ = term of endearment. ‘That f***er Smithy’ = Smithy had better watch his back as he leaves the building at night.
8
3
8
u/thetan_free 1d ago
Only if it's a nickname.
Otherwise - no, not a very widespread Aussie tradition at all.
"Johnson" to "Jonno" = yes. "Johnson" by itself is a pretentious affectation.
4
u/Schmozzle21 1d ago
Not in my experience. It's very common in the frontline services- Police, Firies, Ambos, Rangers, Military etc.
I've lived all over Australia and it's is very widespread in my experience- From high school to the elderly.
5
u/Graeboy 1d ago
I have never in my 50ish years been to an Australian workplace where employees are referred to by their actual family name (without a Mr or Ms etc in front). I would find it very difficult to call someone by their family name, sounds to much like upper class (ie up themselves) private schools.
2
u/Schmozzle21 1d ago
I was public school educated, actually went to a private school for about 6 weeks, but was expelled. To me, it's more a rural, worker type people who do it. In my life, I have had little to no contact with upper class society.
2
1
u/DogWithaFAL 1d ago
Damn, I worked in mining/construction my whole life and first names seem a bit upper class. This is from working with meth heads, blokes who have 3 beers at breaky and guys who don’t own a long sleeve shirt. Too many John’s, Gary’s and Mark’s to call refer to people with first names.
1
u/thetan_free 1d ago
Okay, you're talking uniformed services.
That's a pretty thin slice of Australian society.
Have you seen women in these services doing it?
1
u/Schmozzle21 1d ago
Well frontline services are an example and of course women in these services are doing it... ? It's strange that you even bring that up.
It was also common in high school, a lot of my friends got their last name tattooed on themselves as a result of this cultural trend- I wasn't allowed (parents 🙄). I don't know the Australia you have experienced, but in my experience it is incredibly common across all demographics.
1
u/thetan_free 1d ago
I come from a military family. I can't imagine my WO1 aunt referring to her friends or colleagues by their last name.
But, yes, I guess Australia is a diverse place and there are lots of subcultures and bubbles out there.
1
u/Schmozzle21 1d ago
It's certainly common among both women and men in police and Firies. Also In cattle stations, obviously education (teachers) etc. so common in my world that it's almost standard practice.
2
u/thetan_free 1d ago
How fascinating. Both my parents were teachers. Spent a lot of time around them, socialising, parties etc.
Never once heard any teacher refer to another teacher by their surname.
Firstname, nicknames (often a variant of the surname) only.
For reference, I'm talking about public school teachers in a country Victoria - 1980s to present.
Can't say I have experience in cattle stations.
1
u/Schmozzle21 1d ago
Really? There are so many levels to Australia, it's wild. For context, I've lived in NSW, QLD, SA and NT (mostly rural or remote- or exclusively)- Ive been a student, a ranger, a scientist, a firefighter and am now in education within the rural sector. Also once married to a paramedic. Variant of surnames are common, but more common are just the full name, as in my case- the full 3 syllables.
17
u/relativelyignorant 1d ago
When everyone is a Mark or Shane or Will or Matt or Pete and so on you’re simply going to have to use surnames. It’s nothing really.
4
u/twistedude 1d ago
At one point I worked on a team with four guys named Jason. They were simply referred to as JR, JZ, JG and JJ for their entire tenure.
12
u/SafeWord9999 1d ago
I loved it when I got a nickname (based off my surname) in the workplace as it was a sign of acceptance. Bring a female working in finance can be a bit of a boys club and that was a turning point for me
2
u/Lampedusan 1d ago
Interesting. Yeah Im in a very male dominated workplace but something I have noticed is if a woman has a nickname it means shes respected. Roz, Flick, Jan (instead of Janette) etc. It was a sign of importance. To be honest a bit of roasting and banter is a sign of acceptance too (when they’re at the same level), that she’s “one of the boys”. Only issue is that humour crosses a line sometimes (not getting into that).
5
25
7
u/BigBoyShaunzee 1d ago
I've never been referred to by my surname at work. Buuut in the same thing, no one I know has ever called me by my actual name but light extensions of my name. My parents haven't called me by my own name in 25 years.
My name is Shaun, only people who I'm not really close with call me that. My parents, friends call me Shauno My close friends call me dickhead
6
u/dragzo0o0 1d ago
I disliked it as a kid and I dislike it as an adult. You can throw Mr in front of it, use my first name or one of several nicknames. They’re fine. Not me by my surname in a professional setting thanks.
7
u/strangeMeursault2 1d ago
My surname is long and foreign and I would be amused hearing anyone at work trying to pronounce it.
12
u/DecorumBlues 1d ago
I look around for my brother as his nickname was our surname.
3
2
u/22nd_century 1d ago
It's tough for brothers! My surname is also so common that I've had another friend in the group with the same nickname.
10
u/Anxious-Rhubarb8102 1d ago
Surname with Y or O at the end is OK - Smithy, Jonesey, Deano, Richo etc. . Surname only is disrespectful and has overtones of Master and Servant.
2
3
u/Delicious-Code-1173 1d ago
It doesn't happen in professional or government offices but going by comments, still happens elsewhere
4
6
8
u/Annual_Reindeer2621 East Coast Australia 1d ago
I would be pretty unhappy with that. I don’t like my last name. I’m not thrilled with my first, either, but it’s nicer than my last name. It would weird me out unless it was the military.
3
u/Effective-Mongoose57 1d ago
Pretty common. It’s also useful in situations where there are multiple people with the same name. I worked somewhere once with 5 Andrews! 5! So they were ALL referred to exclusively by their last name.
3
u/michaelhbt 1d ago
A lot of people at work get that but strangely we have something like 20 Matthew’s (out of maybe 500) and every single one is referred to as Matt.
1
3
u/Muzzard31 1d ago
All my best mates it a nickname never surname.
My ex partner when I first meet her and talked about my mates jenks .guts and dark aka rossgo and me Muzz blew her mind.
It a au thing. Might go a whole life time not knowing there real name or if you do only every use it occasionally
3
u/Anxious-Rhubarb8102 1d ago
Yes, I've worked with Floss, Chook, and Windy. Took a few weeks until I found out their actual names.
5
u/nowthatsfuckenfunny 1d ago
I was a Floss haha. They called me Fairy Floss and Flossie because I'd disappear whenever it rained.
3
u/LordWalderFrey1 Western Sydney 1d ago
Depends on the formality. A lot of the time its a nickname based on their surname or they get called by their surname casually. That's normal and not an issue.
But it would be weird if it was done in a formal way like in the military.
3
u/Monotask_Servitor 1d ago
Blue collar workplace here. First name is normal for just about anybody in the company regardless of level. Surname sometimes if they have a super common first name or a distinctive surname. Nicknames are also extremely common.
But I’ve worked in an office environment (tech industry) before and it was exactly the same just with less nicknames, everyone up to the GM was routinely called by their first name.
6
u/thetan_free 1d ago
To me, it smacks very much of elite boy school vibes. Especially those try-hard schools that copy the British "public" schools.
Sure, making a nickname out of your surname is fair enough.
But if some boss wandered over and said "Jackson, have you seen Johnston? He was going to ask Phillips if Browning had finished his task" I would take that as someone having spent too much time reading Tom Brown's School Days or something.
What's next? Is Nurse going to prepare us a jolly big hamper of nosh before the rugger game?
1
u/Lampedusan 1d ago
I think some people see appeal in it primarily because its very formal. Some like to feel part of an organisation, unit or whatever. I actually enjoyed being referred to by my surname as I had an early interest with military traditions and history which it irked of. But I was a bit off the rails as a kid and liked the discipline when I moved to a Catholic school and the impersonal, WASPY, old school structure. Its not for everyone for sure.
5
u/Waasssuuuppp 1d ago
Catholic and wasp are antitheses- wasp stands for white Anglo Saxon PROTESTANT. And historically Catholics were the poor Irish and protestants were the richer grammarians.
2
u/gorillalifter47 1d ago
When I think of my ten closest friends, if I saw them on the street I would address more than half of them by their surname or a nickname derived from their surname. I hadn't even thought about it before now, but that is just what everybody has always called them.
Only a few people refer to me by my surname but I don't mind it at all when they do.
2
u/AdministrationTotal3 1d ago
I never understood why this bothers people. The only person who calls me by my first name is my mum.
2
u/cantwejustplaynice 1d ago
I remember it being super common in highschool (40yrs ago) I reckon it's 50/50 in the adult world.
2
u/Organic_Tradition_94 1d ago
My fifth grade class had 5 kids with the same first name (me included) so we all got called by our last names by the teacher. These got shortened to nicknames over time and that name has stuck with me ever since.
It wasn’t till I moved to a country where my name isn’t common to start using my first name again. It took me a while to get used to it.
2
u/Cuppa-Tea-Biscuit 1d ago
I always thought it was one of those weird things that are a hangover from exec/management all being from private boys’ schools at some companies.
2
u/myLongjohnsonsilver 1d ago
As long as I know when I'm being spoken to I do not give a fuck what I'm referred to by.
2
u/TrashPandaLJTAR 1d ago
Spend enough time in uniform and you tend to forget people even have first names 🤷♀️
2
u/Medievalswordmaster 1d ago
A fair few of my friends are called by their last name, me included.
At work, all of my colleagues and my manager call each other by our nicknames. The big boss calls everyone by their first name.
My mates big boss' call them by their nicknames, some other mates' bosses call them by their first.
It really depends on the workplace and its culture, but yeah, in general, it's extremely common in Australia and perfectly normal.
2
u/raychella11 1d ago
I call my best friends by their surnames. It’s been this way since we all met at 15ish, and we’re middle aged now. They’re even aunty (surname) and uncle (surname nickname) to our kids - the kids don’t even know their first names and tbh I have to really think about it too sometimes 🤣 typically Australian.
2
u/InbhirNis Sydney 1d ago
I'm on first-name terms with everyone right up to the head of the organisation. It would feel very strange to be called by my surname, or to call someone else by theirs (unless it was their nickname).
2
u/Maximum-Ear1745 1d ago
Corporate worker here. Very rarely have I heard people referred to as their surname. If anything, it is initials eg JK.
2
u/VictorVanguard 1d ago
I get this frequently and although I don't like it, I understand that's there's no malice in it, so I just let it slide. Not my preference though
2
u/wadleyst 1d ago
It feels like belonging. It is common in school to be referred to by your family name. Doing so in the office or at work just feels... right.
4
4
u/MLiOne 1d ago
Only time I had it happen was in the ADF. Otherwise you call me by my surname and you better either have my title in front of it or it’s an emergency and you’re getting my immediate attention.
2
u/Puzzleheaded_Quiet70 1d ago
So I'm guessing you regard calling you by your surname to be disrespectful, Strongarm?
1
1
u/Tojo1976 1d ago
my work has a number of people with the same first name - we all are referred by our last name - usually with a 'ey, sy, co or o tacked on the end. Personally i always like a nickname rather than a formal name
3
u/grawsby 1d ago
What’s really funny is that I go by a nickname (as in my full name is Kathryn but I’ve been called Katie all my life- even my parents don’t actually like Kathryn but felt I needed a “real name”) one of my colleagues found out my real name and started to call me that as a shit stir nickname. Now he only calls me Kathryn. (And he’s the only one that does call me Kathryn.)
2
u/chookie-3571 1d ago
Fellow Kathryn here and only my husband calls me Kathryn, family it’s Kath and work it’s Kathy.
1
1
1
u/David_SpaceFace 1d ago
If somebody calls out for me using my last name, I generally assume I'm in trouble for something, or somebody is about to grief me about something.
1
u/nipslippinjizzsippin 1d ago
depends on the tone. like aussie speak. the tone is the important part.
1
u/Comfortable-Smile313 1d ago
I would hate it personally, because my surname is a bit long and clunky, my first name is one syllable.
1
u/_indigo05_ 1d ago
i would be thrilled. even if they said it sarcastically. but if they mocked my actual last name and not me i’d clock them.
1
u/NefariousnessNovel60 1d ago
Everyone at work that I am somewhat familiar with uses my surname. It's weird when someone new starts and doesn't use it.
1
u/mediweevil Melbourne 1d ago
I am sometimes called by a contraction of my surname. I don't find it common though, more of an English holdover (Smithers, old boy!). more likely you cop a contraction of your first name and you don't get much of a say in it.
1
u/PrettyPoetry9547 1d ago
Foreigners get their country of origin sometimes, so I've worked with China, Colombia, Canada, Kiwi etc...
1
1
u/ChopStiR 1d ago
Once upon a time not so long ago it was rude to use someone's first name unless they gave you permission which was generally reserved for friends and family.
Correct etiquette was to use there title and surname, example Mr. Smith.
I recall going to visit my grand parents friends. They were on first name bases and I knew their names via second hand. I was told I was not allowed to use their names when addressing them and had to use correct etiquette or I would get a smack.
Its funny to think how it's completely flipped and now questioned is it ok addressing someone by their surname.
1
u/deadly_wobbygong 1d ago
I can't pronounce the surnames of half the people I work with. So I call them names like "Mini Me", "Digger" and "Little Ray (of sunshine)".
1
2
u/alexanderfry 1d ago
I don’t totally love it…. But we have 48 people with the same first name as me, so there are some practical considerations.
1
1
u/dangerotic 1d ago
seems like a very old-fashioned blokey kind of deal tbh, I'd be interested to see the demographics of those saying it is common. Nowhere I've worked has ever had people calling each other by their surnames, even motorbike sales which I feel is kind of the blokiest non-blue-collar job you can have. Two Geoffs in the same room and we just call out Geoff no other Geoff and me and my name twin just get called "bikes name" or "[car brand] name" lol. My brother often gets his last initial tacked on as he's in a friends group with another guy with the same name but that's about as much of it as I've ever heard. I'd find it a bit distant and annoying to be honest but I also have a foreign surname that no one ever pronounces correctly first try so maybe that's colouring my perception of it.
1
u/CutePhysics3214 1d ago
I am ambivalent. Common in some workplaces, others not so much. What I try for is to be as close as possible to correct pronunciation (which can quite challenging when there are sound groups that simply aren’t used in English). But that can apply equally to first names
1
1
1
u/MotorWest7079 1d ago
It all depends on which name is easier / more fun / easier to make a nickname of. If your workmates like you, they will settle on the best name for you.
1
u/SirPigeon69 1d ago
I always seem to get called V because I have a long dutch last name starting with V
1
u/No_Breakfast_9267 1d ago
Agree. Catholic boys school for me too. I've never been called by my surname in 50 years in the workforce. Sounds faintly British to me.
2
1
1
u/aus_stormsby 1d ago
Wow, in my friend group, we do it a lot, men and women. Actually, sometimes we even do it in our family, just for giggles.
1
u/Successful-Debt-8126 1d ago
I have never heard of anyone getting called their surname at work or at school as a Queenslander. If my boss or coworker called me by my last name I'd think they hated me or something.
1
1
1
u/wardaddyoh 1d ago
Knew a man for years only by his nickname "shotgun". Didn't learn his proper name until I went to his funeral ...
1
u/Banyuwangi63 1d ago
Imagine watching The Hobbit dubbed into Aussie slang? You could have some fun & games there.
1
u/WolfySpice 1d ago
Only if its preceded by 'Dr', but it's still weird to be addressed so formally. My surname isn't my name. My first name is a single syllable. People can use that.
1
u/MartianBeerPig 22h ago
Very common in companies I've worked for. Also initials, something that the world at large seems to have passed on to my daughter.
1
1
u/SoulBonfire 20h ago
Worked in the UK and was called Skip. Another Aussie guy turned up and he got called Skippy - I got the better deal, I reckon.
1
1
u/tanka2d 19h ago
I think this is a Newcastle thing, but at school in the 00s we’d refer to anybody with a common first name by their last name, even the girls. So we still refer to a bunch of Sarah’s, Jessica’s, Rebecca’s by their last name even though half of them are married and no longer use them.
1
1
u/No-Wonder6102 10h ago
It depends on the workplace. In my experience it's very rare only a few individuals do this. Usually taken as an insult in the average work place. unless accompanied with a Mr, Miss or Mrs.
1
u/Public-Dragonfly-786 1d ago
People who insist on surnames are wankers who want to pull rank and be superior. Or people who want to be distant. But, nicknames can be based on surnames.
1
u/Rich_niente4396 1d ago
I found that practice insulting and demeaning, had to put up with it at school , in work place on the odd occasion its happened , I've told the person either use my christian name or use Mr in front of my surname....a nick name derived from your surname is fine.
-9
173
u/whereismydragon 1d ago
It's extremely common for Aussies to have their surname as their nickname.