Manchester University was the popular name used for the Victoria University of Manchester, constituted in 1904.

Manchester University emerged from the federal Victoria University, which included colleges in Liverpool and Leeds alongside Owens College in Manchester. In 1900 the colleges of the Victoria University separated and in 1904 Owens College was reconstituted as the Victoria University of Manchester, though it was often known simply known as Manchester University, or Owens.

In 2004 Manchester University, under its formal name the Victoria University of Manchester, combined with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) to become known as The University of Manchester.