Etiquette for Greeting Servants

Housekeepers are often dignified by being called “Mrs. Jackson” or “Miss Lang” by the staff and their employers, as is the cook, very often, in a house with a large staff. 

If you are a familiar of the house you are visiting you may say, “Good afternoon, Perkins,” to the butler or houseman who opens the door and greet by name other servants you recognize if you wish. Housemen and butlers are usually addressed by their surnames, chauffeurs preferably by their surnames but often by their proper names (never nicknames). 

Maids and cooks are “Ella,” “Katherine,” or “Katie,” whichever they prefer, although in some formal households the woman servants are called, English fashion, “Murphy,” “Keene,” etc…

Chinese men servants are called by their last names, which, Chinese fashion, are always given first. A man who tells you his name is Fu Wang expects to be called Fu, his last name. 

Housekeepers are often dignified by being called “Mrs. Jackson” or “Miss Lang” by the staff and their employers, as is the cook, very often, in a house with a large staff. 

To the staff the butler is always “Mr. Perkins,” for he is the household's executive officer. A chef is “Chef” or else is referred to by his surname alone. A French chef is usually "Monsieur Robert" (his first name). — Amy Vanderbilt’s New Complete Book of Etiquette - The Guide to Gracious Living, 1952

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