Joy, I don’t know of such a word and I don’t know if women who keep their last names are more likely to call each other by their last names. I’ll try to find this out, but it could take much time. Look for a follow-up here.

The sorority link doesn’t surprise me. I think of that section of the population being very competitive socially and the last name only practice is also used in sports and the military- two other competitive groups. The only exposure to this that I’ve had in my life was growing up in the boy scouts which, strangely, was a socially competitive experience for a lot of the guys who were trying to ‘fit in.’ I think the last name only practice is a little de-humanizing to the person and poises the user in a superior position socially, even if very subtly.

So, between my Russian studies and a present fixation on early nineteenth century literature, I was beginning to wonder if the use of surnames wasn’t just a simplification, distinguishing among the veritable flood of Johns, Edwards, Williams, Johns, and Johns in the world. There is a similar phenomenon in Russia where one feels as though there is an exclusive list of 7-10 “Christian names” parents can choose to give their babies. (On a side note, I think Italy really has such a list of “legal names,” though it includes more Marks and Michaels and throws in some saints along with the Biblical cast and crew)

Of course, if this were the case, all the Maries and Annes in France would be employing the same tactic–

There is a fascinating passage in Jane Austen’s Emma (1816) that describes Mr. Elton’s new wife repeatedly referring to her husband’s friend as merely “Knightley,” rather than “Mr. Knightley.” Emma, who views herself the superior in class and manner, is horrified at the presumption of this intimacy and the absolute impropriety of a woman referring to a man in such a way.

While this anecdote is colored by the comedy of manners and parade of honorifics that rule Jane Austen’s England, it led me to reflect that regardless of whether both males and females do use this informal means of address, the practice can’t seem to cross gender boundaries without calling the gentility of the speaker into question.

Even on coed sports teams where men and women might address each other by surnames, it seems self-consciously transgressive, at least from the outside. I do wonder if my view isn’t culturally biased, but it seems an attempt to masculinize a group. While men could comfortably and warmly go on referring to one another by their last names at a dinner following the night’s game without reproach, would they still be able to address their female teammates politely as such off the field?

Are there mixed-sex groups that use surnames without that self-consciousness?