Snow Patrol was originally called Shrug when the band formed in 1994. The group began in Dundee, Scotland, where University of Dundee students Gary Lightbody, Mark McClelland, and Michael Morrison started playing together.
As Shrug, the band performed at university venues and local pubs and released its first EP, The Yogurt vs. Yoghurt Debate. In 1996, the musicians changed the name to Polarbear, partly because another American band was already using Shrug.
The final name change came in 1997. They abandoned Polarbear after discovering a naming conflict with a band associated with former Jane's Addiction bassist Eric Avery. Snow Patrol then became the group's permanent name.
A common mix-up is answering “Polarbear,” because it was an important intermediate name. However, Shrug is the specific name the band used at its formation in early 1994.