Aniston has enjoyed phenomenal popularity over the years, since she became famous as Rachel Green in "Friends", the sitcom that ran from 1994 to 2004.
She credited the hit sitcom for giving her all the opportunities and rewards in an emotional speech, reports eonline.com.
She accepted the award from her longtime friend and co-star Adam Sandler.
Calling the Icon Award an "incredible honour", Aniston began her speech after receiving a standing ovation by saying: "This town doles out a lot of awards, but the People's Choice, this was always something special to me. As actors, we don't do this for the critics or for each other or to make our families proud, we do this for the money," she said.
"I'm kidding...we do it for you guys. C'mon, seriously, we really do."
As for her reaction when she first learned she would be receiving the honour, Aniston, 50, joked: "When I had first heard that I had won this Icon Award the first thing I thought was, 'Holy shnicks, have I been around that long? It turns out I have."
She said she is an icon because of "an iconic show with an iconic cast and iconic haircut".
"'Friends' was truly the gift of a lifetime and I would not be standing up here without that amazing show and those amazing five other actors and with an audience who stuck with us for a decade and through streaming services now, and syndication and I'm sure coming to a watch soon near you or something! But anyway, you believed in us, you really did, and you believed in those very impossible large apartments, but you had to believe it because we were telling our story. But it's paved the way for everything that I've had the chance to do since," she added.
Aniston also opened up about her recent series "The Morning Show", which marks her first return to TV since saying goodbye to her iconic character of Rachel Green.
She said that she is "back on television, where it all started and I'm so excited. I'm with another incredible ensemble cast...so thank you for tuning".
The actress ended her speech with a final message to her fans, saying, "Thank you for being on this journey with me and I just love you guys. Thank you for sticking by me!"
( With inputs from IANS )