- Feb 5 Giovanni de' Bardi, Italian writer (d. 1612)
- Apr 7 Jose de Anchieta, Spanish jesuit/missionary (Brazilian Tupi-Indians)
- Jun 23 Oda Nobunaga, Japanese warlord (d. 1582)
- Jul 1 Frederick II, King of Denmark and Norway (1559-88), born in Haderslevhus Castle, Haderslev, Denmark (d. 1588)
- Jul 18 Zacharias Ursinus, German theologist (Heidelberger Catechism), born in Breslau, Silesia (d. 1583)
- Sep 24 Guru Ram Das, 4th Sikh Guru (1574-81), born in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan (d. 1581)
- Nov 5 Joachim Camerarius, German botanist (horticulture catalog) and physician, born in Nuremberg, Germany (d. 1598)
- Dec 15 Lucas Osiander, German composer, born in Nuremberg (d. 1604)