Saying "what" when someone calls your name.

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I was raised to think that "Yes ma'am" and "Yes sir" or "No ma'am" and "No sir" were polite, but apparently sime people hate that.

I've been told not to say "what" when someone calls my name, so I've got myself into the habit of saying "yes" instead. But if someone creeps up out of nowhere and yells my name, I say "what" because they have (unintentionally) made me jump, so the word "what" is the first word that comes out.

How about If Someone addresses you with " I Said ' Captain ' ! "?!?:-)

"Yes, Sir," "Yes Ma'am" is still used quite a bit in the South.

Even within the younger generation.

Someone calls out my name, I say, "Hello".

I'm sometimes tempted to say, "that's not my name... the guy you're thinking about hasn't got a beard."

Yes, I was taught this way as well. Saying "what" is rude, you say "yes" when you're being addressed, as in "Yes, that's me", and when you don't hear what a person said you ask "Pardon me?" or say "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that" and ask them to repeat. Most people think little things like that don't matter, but I think it contributes to overall tone which can really influence how people react to you. If you always have a short or snappish tone, people will respond to that. So I find these little civilities important. They grease the wheels of human interaction.

"What?" by itself always struck me as harsh and either accusatory or defensive, somehow.

I remember answering "yes" (instead of answering "what") if I was in an environment of familiar people; including someone else that had the same name as my own.

I would only turn my head (in unfamiliar environments) towards the person addressing someone else with the same name. I've quickly developed that sixth-sense (usually correct) to determine whether or not I was specially the person being addressed!

In my experience, it's a British thing. Not sure why. In America, 'what' is an appropriate response.

I was always taught it was very rude.
"Yes sir?" and "Yes Ma'am?" if they're older, otherwise its "excuse me?" or "pardon?" or just "yes?". Never just "what?" and definitely never "huh?" If they've called your name more than once or asked something and you didnt catch it the appropriate response is "Im sorry. Can you repeat that?/I didnt quite catch that/How may I help you?"

I believe it's wrong to use Yes Sir & Yes Ma'am because some people are a nonbinary gender or they may be transgendered & you have no way of knowing. There are some members on this forum even who fall into those categories & get very offended when others call them Sir or Ma'am because others are not aware of their uniqueness.

You can drop the Sir or Ma'am if you arent sure. But most of the time you just call them by their preference. If they know your name Id assume you also know who they are and what theyd prefer to be called. Its just being polite. Most every adult Ive ever met has either not noticed or appreciated it. People like polite kids.
(I was raised in the South tho. Maybe its different up north?)