List RulesSingle female TV characters who never settle down or date lots of men throughout the series
List of the best female characters who are perpetually single in television history, as ranked by television critics and fans. Often female characters can be defined by the guy whose arm she’s on. Not so with the women on this list. These women are not defined by the men they date, but rather their strong personalities and ambitious career tracks. Many of the characters on this list are much more serious about their careers than their dating life, such as Law and Order SVU’s Detective Olivia Benson and Mad Men’s Peggy Olson. Other female characters are simply unlucky when it comes to the people they date, like Mindy Lahiri and Elaine Benes. Some of the women simply aren’t interested in long-term relationships, like Friends’s Phoebe Buffay.
This list answers the question, “Who are the best single female characters in TV history?” The characters range from past feminist icons like Mary Richards to contemporary women who have broken stereotypes about how women should date, such as Sex in The City’s Samantha Jones.
The female characters on this list may have had a history of dating a lot but they are often seen as heroes for single women, making them among the best female characters of all time.
1
234113Olivia Benson
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit2
19086Buffy Summers
Buffy the Vampire Slayer3
267145Liz Lemon
30 Rock4
187108Diane Chambers
Cheers5
21183Debra Morgan
Dexter6
190111Elaine Benes
Seinfeld7
234127Phoebe Buffay
Friends8
13472Dorothy Zbornak
The Golden Girls9
14376Serena van der Woodsen
Gossip Girl10
157105Mary Richards
The Mary Tyler Moore Show11
15241Alice Nelson
The Brady Bunch, The Brady Bunch Hour12
15369Peggy Olson
Mad Men13
16969Mindy Lahiri
The Mindy Project14
12470Betty Suarez
Ugly Betty15
1428916
15211717
12579Blanche Devereaux
The Golden Palace, The Golden Girls18
5327Ann Romano
One Day at a Time19
14182Robin Scherbatsky
How I Met Your Mother20
156134Rachel Green
Friends21
7347Christine Cagney
Cagney & Lacey22
1086323
8467Victoria Barkley
The Big Valley24
806625
7437Sally Rogers
The Dick Van Dyke Show