John and Margaret are the luckiest names

The National Lottery released the names of the luckiest National Lottery players. Those named John and Margaret have proved to be the luckiest lottery winners so far. After John, the lucky names in lottery among men who have banked prizes of more than £50,000 are David, Michael, Peter, Robert, James, Paul, William and Stephen. The luckiest women are named as Margaret, Susan, Patricia, Mary, Christine, Elizabeth, Jean, Janet, Linda and Karen.

“If you aren’t lucky enough to be called John or Margaret, perhaps this is the time to form a syndicate with your fortunately-named friends, and why not invite David and Susan in too? ”, a National Lottery spokesman said.

Of course, it must be pointed out that all of these names are, or have been in the past, very popular. How many Johns do you think buy a lottery ticket? And how many,say, Lexes play?

Other lucky trends

Camelot says there are other lucky trends that can seriously boost your chances of winning. One of them is moving to Ilford. The Essex town is in pole position for lotto wins - closely followed by Newcastle upon Tyne. In Ilford, there has been one top prize-winning ticket among every 6,722 people, while in Newcastle the figure is one in every 6,884.

You are more likely to win the lottery if you work in construction, administration or management, according to the statistics. If you drive a taxi or lorry for a living, then you're also in with a better-than-average shot at the pot. Chefs, factory workers and shop assistants can also take heart from a higher chance of striking it lucky. But, if you're a banker, politician or estate agent then, for once, the fortune is not on your side as, statistically speaking, you are far less likely to win.

Again, these results are not surprising. Who do you think buys more lottery tickets - short for cash lorry driver or a politician busy in filling in his bogus expense claims?

Do not despair if you're not called John or Margaret, don't live in Ilford, don't work in construction etc. So far, the biggest solo Lotto winner is Iris Jeffrey, from Belfast, who won £20,100,472 in July 2004. She doesn't fit into any of the “lucky trends” listed - making her a prime example of the fact that there are always exceptions to the rules.