What are the Cincinnati Bengals' cheerleaders called?

The Cincinnati Bengals’ cheerleaders are called the Ben-Gals.

“Ben-Gals” is a wordplay name built from “Bengals,” the team’s name, with “Ben” referring to the club and “Gals” referring to the female cheerleading squad. The Bengals have used the name for their cheerleaders since 1976, making it one of the NFL’s long-running squad names.

The team itself was founded in Cincinnati in 1968 by Paul Brown, who chose “Bengals” to recall earlier Cincinnati football teams with the same name. That tiger-themed identity also connects the team to its mascot, Who Dey, and to Cincinnati’s reputation as a “jungle” in fan culture.

A common mix-up is confusing the Ben-Gals with the team’s mascot or its “Who Dey” chant. The Ben-Gals are the performance squad; Who Dey is the Bengals’ tiger mascot and the name associated with the team’s famous fan cheer. The spelling is stylized as “Ben-Gals,” with a hyphen.