>>The idea was to see that each passenger class was represented - 1st, 2nd, 3rd Class, honeymoon couples, non-English speaking immigrants, etc., etc. So, they still missed a few. Once in a while they would attach a real person's name, for instance, Mrs. J.J. Brown and Ben Guggenheim, but more often - as you said, Bob - they were generic stand-ins.<<
As Bob said - and also you,too, Roy - they were generic stand-ins. I believe another comment (I believe I heard it on the commentary sound track on the ANTR DVD) was that such characters as the Lucas family, the Irish tenor in steerage, etc. were also composites of several real life persons so the viewer would not be confused with keeping up with too many different characters.