John, how are you? Professor Sana

In Britain, calling school pupils by their last name is a mark of a "public school". (When Brits say 'public school', we refer to old, prestigious, fee-paying schools). It is considered old-fashioned. Hogwarts school in the Harry Potter series has many aspects of a 'public school', including 'houses', uniforms, onsite accommodation (boarding) and long historical tradition. In an ordinary British school, more modern than Hogwarts, students would be called by their first names.


I've read all the Harry Potter books and watched the films - yes, Hogwarts makes use of some British public school traditions. The tradition of houses is not limited to public schools though. Our schools here are also divided into houses.

Addressing boys by surnames is not only confined to teachers talking to pupils in public schools. Pupils address each other by surnames too, and there are British men who address each other by surnames alone as well.

I haven't much experience of American private schools, but I recall that in Dead Poet's Society, the teachers addressed the boys by title and surname. For example, the Robin Williams character Keating starts off by addressing a boy thus:

Mister... (Keating looks at his roll) Pitts. An unfortunate name. Stand up, Mister Pitts.

I have no experience with American private schools, as I only went to public schools. I had one teacher who addressed students as "Mr Surname" and "Miss Surname"; all other teachers used students' first names.

At the high school I attended, the norm was that students called male students by their last names, and female students by their first names.

-IWhen we talk to someone directly, we use names and titles:

Hello, John, how are you?

Professor Sana, there’s someone to see you.

When we are talking about people, we use different forms depending on our relationship with them.