The last decade or so has seen a move away from conformity, a desire to be different. This has become particularly apparent to me because of the trend for parents to give their new babies names that are somehow different, as if by doing so the children are somehow special.

My business is the manufacture of personalised christening gifts which, by definition, include the name of the baby being christened. The popularity of ‘traditional’ names has been in decline, being replaced by ‘made-up’ names, or by traditional names that are spelt in a different way. Just how some of the children given odd names will react when they grow up is not yet known, but various experts are expecting an adverse effect. Looking ahead, some even predict that today’s ‘liberated’ children will swing back to the other extreme and will name their own children using more traditional names.

There are several human traits that suggest that neither children nor adults wish to be ‘liberated’. Instead most like to conform and to belong: for example football supporters like to wear their team’s shirt, a sort of clan uniform that tells the onlooker that that person is a member of a group.

Liberation, or being different, may be attractive for a while, but most are happy to conform.