Our profs at uni pretty much all go by their first name. In my first year I felt special lol then I realized it's the norm, so now it doesn't mean anything. In fact, it annoys me when I get a prof who's into being called Dr Soandso or Professor Soandso... it seems so arrogant. My favourite profs have always been the casual, comfy first-name type.
Yeah, I've called a few by their first names. Maybe that's because the instructors were not a whole lot older than the students.
My psych. & theater professors insisted to be called by their first name. At first it weirded me out only b/c I'm used to identifying them Doctor/Professor as a sign of respect. I only call these 2 by their first names.
"Christian name" is just a term... it means given name, first name. Goes back to the whole baptism thing, the name you're baptised with.
college must be different than highschool in that respect, i only know about 2 teachers first names, and i never call them that. Even my music teacher who we all knew was a stoner was called Mr. (hmmm... maybe i shouldn't mention his last name)
