- May 16 Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician (d. 1799)
- May 17 Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English diplomat and politician (d. 1778)
- May 23 William Hunter, Scottish anatomist and physician, born in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, Scotland (d. 1783)
- May 30 Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, British politician, born in Fairford, Gloucestershire (d. 1793)