It is the same animal.
The names of this animal have different linguistic roots.
The term “snow leopard” was borrowed from Turkic languages, while “leopard” comes from Greek: Λέων means lion, and πάρδος — panther (ancient people believed that the leopard is a hybrid of two predators).
This feline also had another name borrowed from Greek — pardus. However, in Rus', pardus was sometimes used to refer to the cheetah as well.
