#sen if you spot something wildly incorrect please correct me vbjhbv

[pridewon]

(group headcanons: names and honorifics)

yamaguchi

tends to be pretty thorough with name conventions and honorifics. mostly uses the honorific “-san”, including with people his own age, but can be somewhat flexible and drop suffixes entirely once he grows comfortable enough (ie: hinata & kageyama). exceptionally lucky people get a nickname (ie: “tsukki”). he is easily influenced by how other people call each other and unconsciously picks up on nicknames (ie: ‘daichi-san’ instead of ‘sawamura-san’). very used to people calling him “yamaguchi-kun” or just “yamaguchi”, and doesn’t mind either - “tadashi” becomes a little more common once he starts college. 

kuroo

shamelessly veers towards familiarity. doesn’t tend to use honorifics a lot except with teachers (and superiors once he enters active life) or to more or less affectionately poke fun at people (ie: “yaku-kun”/”yakkun”, “akaashi-kun”, “suga-chan”, “chibi-chan”). some people get the surname-only treatment (kai, yamamoto, bokuto, akaashi...), some have their surname butchered or are unlucky enough to get nicknames that mostly serve a teasing purpose (”sa’amura”, “tsukki”), some he allows himself enough familiarity to be on a first-name basis (kenma, lev). with kuroo, anything goes - but mostly on his own terms and regardless of what other people want. other students mostly call him by his last name “kuroo-san”, “kuroo-kun”, “kuroo” for his teammates), with the occasional “kuro” by mistake or by design, and “tetsurô” is mostly reserved for his coaches and significant other. some childhood friends and kenma’s parents used to call him “tetsu-kun” (or tekkun idk if the translation mistranslated or not), and... let’s say that if you want to get back at him for anything, it’s a sure way of making him twitch without fail.

iwaizumi

surname-only basis for almost everyone regardless of gender. he refuses to be bothered with honorifics and doesn’t see the point when it comes to people his own age - although he will scrupulously use “ -senpai” with upperclassmen or more senior professionals in his field. he doesn’t use first names unless it is for his significant other, and he never uses nicknames unless it’s to insult oikawa. he is fairly flexible with how other people call him, as long as it comes from a place of respect and not mockery. “iwaizumi”, “iwa”, and “hajime” are all fine, and he doesn’t mind whether or not people use “ -san” or “-senpai”. oikawa is the only person who is allowed to use “iwa-chan” - anyone else gets their head bitten off. 

atsumu

the definition of respect is dead. EVERYONE gets some kind of first name basis or nickname/diminutive combination, regardless of the difference in age, experience, or status. he plays it off as a friendly thing, appending “ -kun” to everyone he meets (or “-chan” depending on gender), but more often than not, it comes across as a little condescending, especially for people he barely knows (”shoyo-kun”, “tobio-kun”, “omi-kun”...). over time though, as and if friendships develop, it takes on a more sincere and warm ring (”aran-kun”). he likes to make up nicknames and play on sounds (”omi-omi”, “bokkun”) and to use already existing nicknames (”ushiwaka”). kita is the only person he respects and fears enough to address properly (”kita-san”). most people call him atsumu to differentiate him from osamu - once they go their separate ways, being called “miya” remains a weird feeling, and he is quick to prompt the use of his given name. he doesn’t mind nicknames (”tsumu” wa created by osamu, and got picked up by other people; and bokuto’s “tsum-tsum” is something he’s quickly stopped fighting against. too tiresome). 

ushijima

last name basis for everyone. upperclassmen, underclassmen, superiors at work if he had any, it is as though ushijima never even learnt what honorifics were. he doesn’t question it, and no one yet has really dared question him. the only exceptions to the rule would be his teachers and coaches, who he calls by their titles without adding their name before (he always says “coach” rather than “coach washijo” - assumign washijo will obviously know he’s addressing him). even a significant other will have to wait or actively remind him that it’s okay to move onto a first name basis. as his professional career progresses and he moves overseas, being more exposed to first name usage in Europe, he subconsciously becomes a bit more relaxed about it, especially around teammates. as for himself - he is used to being called many different things and isn’t too fussed about what people decide to call him. his surname is fine, and he doesn’t mind teammates using his first name, or competitors using his “ushiwaka” nickname... as long as his name/surname/nickname is used with basic respect (”ushiwaka-chan” doesn’t and will never receive his stamp of approval). as for the “waka-kun” some of the girls at school use............ he has decided that diplomatically asking them to stop would be too much effort and work compared to the desired result.

konoha

upon first meetings, konoha tends to stick to the conventional honorifics expected of the situation and to be polite... but he has a marked tendency to drop them pretty fast - as soon he and his interlocutor move from having just met to friendly acquaintances. it’s a friendly familiarity he lends to almost everyone, without thinking too much on it. he’ll happily use first names if invited to, and diminutives like “saru” out of convenience and connivence. as for him... for some reason, no one except his siblings ever use his first name - to the point that it is permissible to wonder if his teammates even remember he has one. sometimes he’d almost forget too - call him “akinori”, and watch as he reacts a bit too late with an expression of pure surprise on his face like he just remembered that “oh wait, that’s me??”. absolutely loves being called “senpai”, but will never ask it from an underclassmen - prefers when it comes to them naturally.

oohira

first name? first name. but somehow, leon seems to have a weird superpower, that makes it sound perfectly acceptable and not at all familiar or rude. his teammates have tried explaining it in their own way, saying that leon has an aura, an air about him that ease those around him into comfortable and respectful familiarity, making it all too easy to say ‘yes’ when after a little while of knowing him, he offers a new friend to just call him leon, and if it’s okay if he uses their first name too. easy as that. it’s just... easier? more convenient? more cordial? and nobody really questions it, because nobody dislikes it, really. very few people still call him by his surname, even among his underclassmen - the most formal way he is addressed as is “leon-san”... except for shirabu who apparently stubbornly sticks to “oohira-san”. leon doesn’t mind that either. 

bokuto

cut from the same cloth as kuroo and atsumu - but friendlier. honorifics never made it to his pea brain, and everyone is at the very least on a surname-only basis with him, regardless of age, gender or status. very prompt to using nicknames (”megane-kun”, "ushiwaka”) and diminutives just because he likes the sound of it, rather than as an indicator of actual closeness (”yukippe”, “tsum-tsum”, “myaa-sam”). also has a noted tendency to mispronounce names (”sa’amura”, “akashi”, “the myaa twins/the myans”, “tsukishibalablah” thank you english dub for my life). as for him - with a name as iconic and memorable as “bokuto”, there aren’t many people to call him anything else. only his family call him “koutarou” (and kou-chan when his sisters wants to embarrass him in front of his friends). 

goshiki

model student in every regard on that front. very scrupulous in using proper naming conventions, and considers earning to right to switch to less formal honorifics and naming agreements a privilege granted from one person to another. as the youngest player on shiratorizawa’s volleyball team, this is doubly important to him - although the team spirit and regular encouragements from his teammates make him flip flop between “ -senpai” and “ -san” most of the time. he’s used to being called “goshiki” or “goshiki-kun” at school, with the exception of his teammates (and incidentally upperclassmen) using his given name. he actually likes it when they call him “tsutomu” rather than “goshiki” - it makes him feel accepted and like they really see him as an equal rather than the baby of team... even though he’d rather be kicked off the team than admit it out loud. (that’s a lie. please don’t kick him off the team.)

nekomata

old people get old people privileges. nekomata grants himself some leeway with naming conventions because he knows he tends to be the oldest person in the room anyway - and the one who receives the most deference. he tries not to abuse it too much: keishin ukai gets the first name treatment because using his surname would be confusing (and he’s known him since he was a child let’s be real); takeda gets the “sensei” treatment out of sincere respect. he calls all of his students, current and former, by their first names. as for him, naturally, “nekomata-sensei” is what he hears the most, and “yasufumi” what he hears the least, these days. 

agnès

cautiously polite. honorifics don’t necessarily come naturally to her, but she forces herself a little bit to avoid creating unnecessary frictions. pretty much everyone outside of her team gets a polite and somewhat distant “ -san” or “ -senpai”, while “ -kun” and “ -chan” feel too... infantilising to her taste (as a very old and mature 17 year-old of course). her teammates are the exceptions to the rule since she let herself be roped into calling them by their given names for the most part, though honorifics are still used with her upperclassmen on the team. between “ozu” and “agnès”, she tends to prefer the former - because it’s less mispronounced, because it doesn’t draw attention to the fact that one of her parents is from abroad... but people rarely listen to her. especially her more unruly teammates (who get a free pass anyway).