U2 was originally called Feedback when Larry Mullen Jr. began recruiting musicians at Dublin’s Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976.
Mullen posted a notice on the school’s bulletin board seeking musicians for a new band. The first rehearsal took place in his kitchen, with several students attending. The early group included Mullen, Paul Hewson, David Evans, Adam Clayton, and other musicians who later left.
Feedback changed its name to The Hype in 1977. The band eventually shortened its name to U2 in March 1978, after a recommendation from Irish punk musician Steve Averill. The name change happened before the group established its international recording career.
A common mix-up is treating The Hype as the band’s first name. Feedback came first, while The Hype was the later transitional name. U2’s original school setting remains central to the band’s origin story, because all four long-term members came together through that Dublin school.