- May 1 Benjamin Henry Latrobe, American architect (completed U.S. Capitol), born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England (d. 1820)
- May 1 Gottfried Rieger, Czech composer, born in Opavice, Silesia (now Czech Republic) (d. 1855)
- May 3 Élisabeth of France, princess of France, youngest sister of king Louis XVI, born in Versailles, France (d. 1794)
- May 4 Joseph Carpue, English surgeon who pioneered early plastic surgery in England, born in London, England (d. 1846)
- May 5 Robert Craufurd, British general, born in Newark Castle, Ayrshire (d. 1812)
- May 15 Johann Nepomuk Kalcher, composer
- May 20 J Gottfried Schadow, German sculptor/cartoonist/lithographer
- May 28 Edward Livingston, American jurist and statesman, born in Columbia County, New York (d. 1836)