In the process of growing up I was familiar with a few different salutations, such as Mr. [Last Name], my last name without the mister, a nickname, by my first name, perhaps once in a blue moon by my entire name [first, middle, and last] and my personal favorite which was when I received mail from certain relatives, as Master [First, Last Name} which when you are a young kid, just makes you blush with happiness. When it comes to how I was addressed, I never cared for my last name being used without a Mister or some other sign of respect, so just using my last name, I always found to be extremely annoying and my response to that usage would typically burn inside. As for nicknames, it would of course depend upon the nickname, as some nicknames are hurtful, while others are pleasurable, and then there are generic call-outs like "buddy" or "dude" which are fine if the person really doesn't know your name, but somewhat disrespectful if they do know your name. In general, though, most people addressed me by my first name, which was my preference, except for my secret desire, to be addressed verbally as Master [First, Last Name} which I thought would be the ultimately best. In regards to how I treated my contemporaries and their names, I would basically match whatever way that they were treating me. As for my addressing of adults, the typical way would be Mr. [Last Name], unless they were relatives in which case it would always be Aunt [First Name]. In all of this, I don't remember hearing salutations of Mr. [First Name] being used by anyone to anybody, although I suppose that it might have occurred, occasionally. However, when I moved to the South, I began to be addressed from time-to-time as Mr. [First Name], which I found to be somewhat intriguing, unusual, and totally unnecessary, since just addressing me by my first name is fine by me, no matter the age of the party addressing me.
While there are probably many reasons, why the South, seems to be the only part of the nation, to which Mr. [First Name] seems to be used somewhat commonly as a typical way to address someone, often of perceived authority, or older, I'm okay with it, as long as it isn't racially based. That is to say, if only black people used Mr. [First Name] but never white people to me, or if white people only used it as a form of salutation from one white person to another, but never to a black person, I would not be okay with it. While there probably isn't much doubt, that this form of salutation in the South probably has roots in our previous days of slavery, the fact that it still exists today, is probably fine, because the salutation of Mr. [First Name} seems to be a way of showing respect to another person, without being stuck within the absolute formality of class, social, and racial distinctions that formerly were part and parcel of the South. In addition, it isn't difficult to respond to the person addressing you as Mr. [First Name] that they need not use the Mister part at all, without unduly upsetting the social mores of that interaction. Also, I never have an issue with anyone attempting to show either respect or politeness to me, especially if that politeness or respect is genuine as opposed to being something that is formerly impressed against them.