This is something that is getting more and more common, but I can't seem to get comfortable with.

On some level, it irks me because of the obvious attempt to imply familiarity. But in my case it is magnified because nobody who actually knows me would call me by my first name.

I'm probably not making that clear. What I am trying to say is that the attempted familiarity backfires because the only people who would address me that way are people who *don't* know me. The TSA calls me by my first name. The IRS calls me by my first name. That's about it. heck, my credit cards all have either my initials or just my middle name.

I have a common first name, and it is one that has several "shortenings" and nicknames. Much like William could be called Will, or Bill, or Billy or Willy. Or Henry could be Hank. Or John could be Jack. So which one of those do I use? None of them. I go by my middle name (because my father and I have the same first name, so he uses that).

So when I scan my boarding pass and they say "Thanks for being a Diamond Medallion, Mr Qwkynuf", I smile and nod, and thank them back, and go on with my life. When they say "Thanks for being a Diamond Medallion, Steven" (or William, or James, or whatever) my head snaps around to try to figure out who they are talking to, and it takes me a couple of beats to realize that they are talking to me.

And the point is not that they would (or even should) know to address me by my middle name, it's that they specifically *don't* know, and make it awkward by guessing (wrongly).