- Jan 4 Franciscus Aguilon, physicist/mathematician/jesuit/architect
- Feb 12 Thomas Campion, English composer, poet and physician, born in London, England (d. 1620)
- Apr 25 Aurelio Signoretti, Italian composer, born in Reggio Emilia, Italy (d. 1635)
- Apr 26 Nicolas Formé, French composer, born in Paris (d. 1638)
- May 1 Michiel Janszoon van Mierevelt, Dutch royal painter, born in Delft, Netherlands (d. 1641)
- May 15 Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer and pioneer in development of opera (L'Orfeo, espro della Beata Vergine), baptised in Cremona, Italy (d. 1643)
Samuel de Champlain
Jul 3 Samuel de Champlain, French explorer (Lake Champlain), born in Hiers-Brouage or La Rochelle, France (d. 1635)
- Aug 10 Girolamo Giacobbi, composer
- Aug 21 Francois de Sales, French bishop of Geneva, writer and saint, born in Sainte-Mondane, France (d. 1622)
- Sep 5 Date Masamune, Renowned Samurai and Daimyo in Japan, born in Yonezawa, Yamagata, Japan (d. 1636)
- Oct 10 Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain [Catalina Micaela de Austria], Duchess consort of Savoy (1585-97), born in Madrid, Spain (d. 1597)
- Nov 1 Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, 1st Count of Gondomar, Spanish diplomat, born in Astorga, Spain (d. 1626)
- Nov 14 Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange (d. 1625)
- Nov 21 Anne de Xainctonge, French saint and founder of the Society of the Sisters of Saint Ursula of the Blessed Virgin, born in Dijon, France (d. 1621)
- Dec 15 Christoph Demantius, German composer, born in Reichenberg (d. 1643)