- May 13 Louis-Leopold Robert, French painter (d. 1835)
- May 17 Anna Brownell Jameson, Anglo-Irish historian and writer (Loves of the Poets), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1860)
- May 23 (Isaac) Ignaz Moscheles, Bohemian piano virtuoso, friend of Beethoven, teacher of Mendelssohn, conductor, and composer, born in Prague, Bohemia (now Czech Republic) (d. 1870) [1]
- May 24 William Whewell, English polymath and philosopher (History of Inductive Science), born in Lancaster, Lancashire, England (d. 1866)
Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877)
May 27 American shipping and railroad magnate (New York Central Railroad), born in Port Richmond, New York
- May 29 Johann Heinrich von Mädler, German astronomer (published the most complete map of the Moon of the time, Mappa Selenographica, 4 vol. with Wilhelm Beer), born in Berlin (d. 1874)
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
80-89
Over 90