using suffixes such as chan

[officeoffice]

Hi. I think i have a pretty good idea of when to use -chan, -san, -sama, and other suffixes that you would put after people's name. but i am just wondering how pervalent do people actually use -chan after someone's name?

for the most part, when they are speaking to their close friends, would they attach -chan to their names? or is -chan just an endearment, so when you have gotten to know a person, you won't say their name with chan anymore? and so it'd be more natural to just call out their name, without -chan added in the end?

someone please shed some light on this, because from what i hear in dramas and movies, young women (around 20 or in their early 20s) don't seem to use -chan all that much. thanks!

[Nathan]

During my 2 year stint in Japan (although I was mainly around adults 25+) I never once heard an adult Japanese national refer to another with the "chan" attachment. Not once. They either used -san or nothing at all. Mind you, this was mostly within a casual environment as I did not possess the Japanese ability to understand professional conversations.

I did hear women refer to their close male friends with "kun" however.

[MMM]

It is a term of endearment of implying closeness. The older you get the less often it is used, but it sometimes appears in nicknames that can stick around for a lifetime.

Because of the intimate nature, it is rarely used in offices or other professional, business-like situations.

Some of my elder teachers I worked closely with in Japan called me "sensei" at school, but used my name and "~chan" after a couple beers. These were teachers I had worked at least a year with, and were old enough to be my parents, which is probably why "~chan" came out after they loosened up.