The 40-year-old global superstar said it was a "huge honour" to get the title by the People magazine on its 30th anniversary.
"...I'm very pleased to accept," the father of four said.
He may be one of the most loved sportsmen in the world but Beckham said he never considered himself as sex symbol.
"I never feel that I'm an attractive, sexy person," he said.
"I mean I like to wear nice clothes and nice suits and look and feel good, but I don't ever think of myself that way."
"I would hope that she feels this way about me all the time anyway! But she said, 'Congratulations!'"
Beckham, who is the father of Brooklyn, 16, Romeo, 12, Cruz, 10, and Harper, 4, said his eldest son found it amusing.
