[mytailorisrich]

It's quite common, even the norm these days, to address people by their first names in professional settings, among colleagues.

The thing is that this is also becoming/has become the norm when you get correspondance from strangers when the standard etiquette is to use title + surname, as in all European countries, I suppose.

Now, I think when people address you by your surname only, either orally or in writing, it is irritating.

[ncruces]

Well, I personally find title + surname the worst; it's obnoxious and elitist; my (first) name isn't "engineer". I can live with it, though. I just kinda hate people who demand it of others.

So, clearly, you can't please everybody.

[mytailorisrich]

By title I mean "Mister", etc. Perhaps "Engineer" is a German thing ;)

[ncruces]

And then you must know (if this is a system: store) the person's preferred gender, and in some cultures marital status.

[fmbb]

Not all European countries. We phased the title and surname addressing out during the 70s here in Sweden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Du-reformen

Personally I get annoyed only if a sales person addresses me by first name. There is no other setting where I would prefer a stranger to address me using my full name, unless we’re in some context where there are dozens or hundreds of strangers so one can not expect my name is unique.