Anyone else watch “Upstairs, Downstairs” with their parents as a child? Or was it just me and my freakishly Europhile family?
If you loved Rose Buck as much as I did, then you’ll be happy to know that PBS is bringing back the return of 165 Eaton place. It’s now 1936, a year of much change in England, and we welcome a new cast of characters.
The premise of “Upstairs, Downstairs” is that the aristocratic family lives upstairs, and the servants live downstairs. Both series follow the relationships, sometimes humbling, often startlingly warm, and at times strained or worse. The names are an interesting study in contrasts, and in how the perception of names changes over time. Or do they?
Consider the new cast of 2010.
Upstairs:
Sir Hallam Holland
Lady Agnes Holland
Lady Maud Holland, Hallam’s mother
Lady Persephone Towyn, Agnes’ sister visiting from Wales
Pamela Holland, Hallam’s younger sister
Downstairs:
Rose Buck, Housekeeper
Clarice Thackeray, Cook
Warwick Pritchard, Butler
Amanjit Singh, Lady Maud Holland’s secretary from India
Ivy Morris, parlourmaid
Harry Spargo, driver
Johnny Proude, Footman
Rachel Perlmutter, parlourmaid and German-Jewish refugee
Lotte Perlmutter, Rachel’s daughter
Visitors to the Upstairs:
Joachim von Ribbentorp, German
Wallis Simpson, King Edward’s mistress
George, Duke of Kent
Anthony Eden
Oswald Mosley also makes a timely appearance
In America we’ve embraced botanical beauties like Rose and Ivy, and Biblical classics such as Rachel with welcome arms, while traditionally aristocratic names like Maud and Agnes, and the literary Persephone, remain somewhat marginalized.
Will traditional nicknames for boys like Harry and Johnny have a resurgence? Anyone care to take on the plight of Hallam, Warwick, Oswald, or Wallis? What about Joachim?
What are your associations with the names above? Can you see any gaining traction as a result of the show? Any that appeal to you for your family?
Tune in tomorrow for the recap of the 197os cast.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
My associations with Rose & George are my own children.
They’re just missing my Henry – though maybe their Harry is really a Henry. 
Hallam is new to me – not especially keen on that one.
Harry is #3 in England for 2009, so I can see that becoming more popular in the US. I spotted a young Harry in Target recently.
I’m presuming Warwick is pronounced like British place name? 2 syllables with the “ar” making an “o” as in orange and the last syllable being “rick”. I can’t see that one catching on, because of people wanting to pronounce it War-wick instead.
Their Harry IS really a Henry!
I’ve been to Warwick Castle in England. I was 10 years old. We took a tour and then right afterward I gave the same tour to an amenable elderly couple. I’ll never forget that experience.
Yey, so they do have all my kids names on the show!
(My Dad had an Uncle Harry, who was really a Henry.) So my Rose & Henry have ‘servant names’, whilst George gets to be a Duke! Seeing as both Henry & George are ‘kingly names’ I see them on the same ‘social standing’. Now that we have a Henry *and* a George, we’ve been getting more comments from friends about ‘King George’ and how we named both boys after English kings – which wasn’t exactly our main intent. 
Ah, so you do know how to pronounce Warwick then!
I don’t think I went to the castle, though I did apply to the University there – and get rejected. 
I’ve been watching a few British period dramas on the instant Netflix lately. ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ sounds similar to one I watched called ‘Downton Abbey’. The names from that show are…
Upstairs:
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham
Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham
Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham
Mrs Isobel Crawley
Matthew Crawley
Lady Mary Crawley
Lady Edith Crawley
Lady Sybil Crawley
Downstairs:
Charles Carson Butler
Mrs Elsie Hughes Housekeeper
John Bates Lord Grantham’s Valet
Sarah O’Brien Lady Grantham’s Lady’s maid
Thomas First Footman
William Mason Second Footman
Anna Smith Head Housemaid
Gwen Dawson Housemaid
Daisy Kitchen/Scullery maid
Tom Branson Chauffeur
Lynch Groom
Molesley Butler and Valet
One of the visitors is a man named Evelyn.
I can see the appeal of Persephone: rings the same sort of bells as Phoebe or Penelope, and I hear both of those more often these days. Also, Eden and Holland. Not my style, per se, but as both last names AND place names, they already have a lot in common with current trends.
Personally, I like Lotte, Persephone, and Ivy. And Johnny, actually….
They showed the new episodes here at xmas, it’s really good! I hope they make more.
Hallam is my newest guilty pleasure. I had never even heard of the name before Tennyson was the NOTD at Appmtn, but Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s eldest son was named Hallam (after the poet Arthur Hallam.)
I also loved that Lady Persephone was nicknamed Percy.
I’m a big nerd, but Warwick makes me think of the actor Warwick Davis (Willow, Return of the Jedi.)
Agnes and Maud are rather scrummy aren’t they? The only thing that puts me off Agnes is the potential Aggie nickname and I once mentioned Maud to my OH and his response was a snort(sigh…) Violet, Cora and Isobel – are all equally delightful and would make a lovely sibling set. Although saying that, I like the look of Cora but she sounds a tad unfinished.
What is scrummy? Scrumptious? If that’s what you mean, then yes, I agree.
Scrumtious and yummy! Could anything be better?
Yes I remember watching Upstairs, Downstairs but it was eons ago so I don’t remember the entire content. I came across your blog vial Pregnant in Heels. I am startled by the couple really putting such focus on a name. Although both my children have extremely charming and elegant names.
Welcome! I’m so glad you found me, and to have a new lurker come out from behind the curtain! We would of course love to hear your children’s extremely charming and elegant names.
I did used to watch re-runs of this show with my parents.
Perhaps rather worryingly, my favourites are the name of Nazis and Nazi-sympathisers – Joachim and Oswald …. I love the name Clara which is Hitler’s mother’s name, so it’s all adding up to a slightly distressing trend.
I used to watch the DVDs of Upstairs Downstairs with my father, I actually fell in love with the name Hazel because of that show. Too bad the ending L runs into the begining L of our last name, or I’d use it. I’m so excited they are bringing the show back. I adore the name Ivy! My husband sadly does not. I could see Ivy, Lotte and Harry catching fire. I quite like Lotte and Harry as stand alone names. I’d like to see Maude make a comeback.