- May 2 Florian Johann Deller, Austrian composer, baptized in Drosendorf, Austria (d. 1773)
- May 3 Florian Leopold Gassmann, Bohemian composer, born in Brüx, Bohemia (d. 1774)
- May 13 Henry William (Baron) Stiegel, early American glassmaker
- May 23 Giuseppe Parini, Italian prose writer and poet (Il Giorno), born in Bosisio, Lombardy, Italy (d. 1799)
- May 25 Jean de Neufville, Dutch-American merchant (started 4th English war), born in Amsterdam (d. 1796)