In the golden age of Game of Thones and Mad Men, you'd expect America's favourite female television character to be a cigarette or dragon-toting temptress.

She's neither. In fact, she's a no-nonsense, gun-slinging NYPD cop.

That's right, Law and Order: SVU's long-running character Detective Olivia Benson, played by Mariska Hargitay since 1999, is the most popular woman on television in America.

According to the survey of 1200 people by creative agency Trailer Park, Benson won by a mile, with 21 per cent of people naming her as their favourite.

Empire's Cookie Lyon, another strong female character played by Taraji P. Henson, came second with eight per cent of the vote.

The results changed dramatically, however, when the age group changed to 18-24 year-olds, who named Game of Throne's Daenerys Targaryen as their favourite.

In the overall survey, Daenerys, played by Emilia Clarke, was the fourth most-popular.

Despite younger viewers' clear preference for the HBO fantasy series, Hargitay's character still ranked second in the 18-24 year-old group.

Other notable mentions in the top five include Grey's Anatomy's Dr. Meredith Grey played by Ellen Pompeo, and Scandal's Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington.

So popular are some of these female characters, pop princess Taylor Swift actually named her two cats Dr Meredith Grey and Detective Olivia Benson.

Really.