What is Braut? Why did Erling Haaland Change his Jersey Name?

The 25-year-old Manchester City star Erling Haaland is set to change his shirt name by adding his middle name, 'Braut', on his Norwegian jersey. It is an age-old Norwegian tradition to add their parents' names as a middle name. The ex-Borussia Dortmund star is renowned as Erling Braut Haaland, and his middle name will appear in his jersey during Norway's World Cup qualifier match against Moldova on September 9, 2025. Before playing against Moldova in the World Cup qualifiers, City's talismanic forward will also appear in this shirt in an international friendly match against Finland on September 4th.

What is Braut?

Erling Haaland was born in the year 2000 in Leeds when his father Alf-inge was serving for the Premier League side, Leeds United. The Haaland family was moved back to Bryne, Norway, in 2004, where Erling was brought up and began playing football for a local club before joining Bryne FK's youth system. In Norway, it is very common to add their parents' last names as their middle names. After spending the majority of his life in Norway, the ex-Red Bull Leipzig striker also adopted this tradition.

We all know about Erling's father, who served for a very long time for multiple Premier League sides such as Nottingham Forest, Leeds United, and most famously, Manchester City, one of the richest clubs in the Premier League.

The football world, however, does not know about his mother, who was also a renowned sports person. In the 1990s, Gry Marita Braut, the mother of one of the best players in Manchester City's history, Erling Haaland, was a well-known Norwegian heptathlete champion, and competed in the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shotput, 200-meter hurdles, long jump, javelin, and 800-meter events.

The Norwegian striker's middle name, “Braut,” is his mother's last name, and during his early days in football, his mother helped shape his path to pursue football as his main career, and sacrificed a lot so that her son could go on to become a world-class athlete. A grateful Haaland is now adding his mother's last name to the Norway shirt as a tribute to her.

Erling Haaland's statement and Norway manager's reaction

A major question that has been buzzing in the fans' heads for the past few years is “Why does he use Braut as his middle name?”, and Haaland himself answered it during a 2023 interview, saying:

Norway's manager, Stale Solbakken, was asked about the same during a press conference where he was announcing the squad for the nation's upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifier match. He said: