- Jan 3 (Gertrude) "Henriette" Sontag, later Countess Rossi, German operatic soprano (Carl Maria von Weber's "Euryanthe"), born in Koblenz, Germany (d. 1854)
- Jan 5 André Henri Constant van Hasselt, Belgian poet (La Belgium), born in Maastricht, Meuse-Inférieure (d. 1874)
- Jan 14 Matthew Fontaine Maury, Naval Commander (Confederacy), born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia (d. 1873)
- Jan 14 Sir Charles Hotham, Governor of Victoria, born in Dennington, United Kingdom (d. 1855)
- Jan 17 James Madison Randolph, American President Jefferson's grandson and the 1st to be born in the White House, born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1834)
- Jan 19 Vaclav Jindrich Veit, Czech composer, born in Řepnice (d. 1864)
- Jan 20 Nathaniel Parker Willis, American writer, editor and founder of the American Monthly Magazine, born in Portland, Maine (d. 1867)
- Jan 24 Anna Caroline Oury (née De Belleville), German concert pianist and composer, born in Landshut, Bavaria, Germany (d. 1880)
- Jan 25 Daniel Maclise, Irish painter, born in Cork, Republic of Ireland (d. 1870)
- Jan 27 Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Basque child prodigy and composer, born in Bilbao, Spain (d. 1826)
- Feb 14 Lajos, Count Batthyany, 1st Prime Minister of Hungary, born in Pozsony, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire (d. 1849)
- Feb 22 Józef Kremer, Polish messianistic philosopher (d. 1875)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
Mar 6 English poet ("Sonnets from the Portuguese"), born in Kelloe, Durham
- Mar 9 Edwin Forrest, American actor and philanthropist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1872)
- Mar 12 Jane Appleton Pierce, American 1st lady (1853-57) and wife of Franklin Pierce, born in Hampton, New Hampshire (d. 1863)
- Mar 17 Norbert Rillieux, American chemical engineer and inventor (sugar refiner), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1894)
- Mar 21 Benito Juárez, Mexican politician (1st indigenous President of Mexico 1858-72), born in San Pablo Guelatao, Oaxaca, Mexico (d. 1872)
- Mar 26 Josef Slavik, Czech composer, born in Jince, Czech Republic (d. 1833)
- Mar 28 Ludolph Anne Jan Wilt Sloet van de Beele, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (1861-66), born in Voorst, Batavian Republic (d. 1890)
- Mar 28 Thomas Hare, English barrister and political reformer, born in England (d. 1891)
- Apr 2 Giacomo Antonelli, Italian cardinal and assistant secretary of state of Pius IX, born in Sonnino, Italy (d. 1876)
- Apr 3 Ivan Kireyevsky, Russian literary critic and philosopher, born in Moscow (d. 1856)
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859)
Apr 9 British engineer (SS Great Britain, Great Western Railway), born in Portsmouth, England
- Apr 10 Leonidas Polk, Lt. Gen. (Confederate Army), born in Raleigh, North Carolina (d. 1864)
- Apr 18 Ludwig Schuberth, German composer, born in Magdeburg, Germany (d. 1850)
- Apr 21 Peter van Schendel, Dutch-Belgian painter (Monsieur Chandelle), born in Terheijden, Netherlands (d. 1870)
- Apr 26 Karl Ludwig Friedrich Hetsch, German composer, born in Stuttgart, Germany (d. 1872)
- Apr 27 Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, Queen of Spain (1829-33), born in Palermo, Italy (d. 1878)
- Apr 29 Ernst Freiherr von Feuchtersleben, Austrian physician and philosopher, born in Vienna (d. 1849)
- May 6 Chapin A. Harris, American dentist who founded the America Society of Dental Surgeons, born in Pompey, New York (d. 1860)
- May 8 Johann Friedrich Kittl, Czech composer, born in Orlík, Bohemia (d. 1868)
- May 12 Amos Beebe Eaton, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Catskill, New York (d. 1877)
- May 12 Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish journalist, statesman and nationalist, born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1881)
- May 16 George C. Cadwalader, American Major General (Union Army), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1879)
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
May 20 English philosopher, political economist and utilitarian, born in London
- May 26 Henry Thatcher, American rear admiral (U.S. Navy), born in Thomaston, Maine (d. 1880)
- May 27 Charles-Joseph Tolbecque, French composer, born in Paris (d. 1835)
- Jun 1 John B Floyd, American Governor (Virginia), Secretary of War (1857-60) and Confederate general, born in Blacksburg, Virginia (d. 1863)
- Jun 2 Isaac Strauss, French violinist, conductor and composer, born in Strasbourg, France (d. 1888)
- Jun 8 Gideon Johnson Pillow, American lawyer and Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Williamson County, Tennessee (d. 1878)
- Jun 12 John A. Roebling, German-American civil engineer (Brooklyn Bridge), born in Mühlhausen, Germany (d. 1869)
- Jun 13 Bernard ter Haar, Dutch poet (Herbert and Clara) and church historian, born in Amsterdam (d. 1880)
- Jun 16 Edward Davy, English physician, chemist, and inventor (d. 1885)
- Jun 27 Napoléon Coste, French guitarist and composer, born in Besançon, France (d. 1883)
- Jul 7 Michele Amari, Sicilian patriot, Italian revolutionary and historian, born in Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily (d. 1889)
- Jul 20 John Sterling, Scottish writer, born in Isle of Bute, United Kingdom (d. 1844)
- Jul 23 Eduard Marxsen, German pianist and composer, born in Nienstädten, Hamburg, Germany (d. 1887)
- Aug 3 Wilson Cary Swann, American physician, philanthropist, social reformer, and namesake of landmark fountain in Philadelphia's Logan Square, born in Alexandria, District of Columbia (now Virginia) (d. 1876)
- Aug 21 Johannes Frederik Fröhlich, Danish violinist and composer, born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1860)
- Sep 5 Christophe Léon Louis Juchault de Lamoricière, French general, born in Nantes, France (d. 1865)
- Sep 11 Joshua Blackwood Howell, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Woodbury, New Jersey (d. 1864)
- Sep 12 Andrew Hull Foote, American Rear Admiral (Union Navy), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 1863)
- Sep 13 Joseph L. Hogg, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Morgan County, Georgia (d. 1862)
- Sep 13 Moritz Ganz, German composer and cellist, born in Mainz, Germany (d. 1868)
- Sep 19 William Dyce, Scottish painter and educator, born in Aberdeen, Scotland (d. 1864)
- Sep 24 George Alexander Osborne, Irish pianist and composer (La Pluie de perles), born in Limerick, Ireland (d. 1893)
- Oct 3 Oliver Cowdery, American religious leader (Later Day Saint apostle), born in Wells, Vermont (d. 1850)
- Oct 6 Andreas Randel, Swedish composer, born in Ramdala, Blekinge, Sweden (d. 1864)
- Oct 11 Alexander Karađorđević, Prince of Serbia (1842-58), born in Topola, Serbia (d. 1885)
- Oct 14 Preston King, U.S. Senator from New York (1857-63), born in Ogdensburg, New York (d. 1865)
- Oct 16 William Pitt Fessenden, Secy Treas (Union), (d. 1869)
- Oct 18 John Breckinridge Grayson, Brig Genl (Confederate Army), (d. 1861)
- Oct 25 Max Stirner [Johann Kaspar Schmidt], German philosopher (Der Einzige), born in Bayreuth, Bavaria (d. 1856)
- Oct 28 Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle, French-Swiss botanist, born in Paris (d. 1893)
- Nov 24 Omar Pasha [Mihajlo Latas], Serbian-Ottoman field marshal (Crimean War) and Governor (Bosnia, Iraq), born in Janja Gora, Military Frontier, Austrian Empire (d. 1871)
- Nov 24 William Webb Ellis, credited with the invention of Rugby (d. 1872)
- Dec 3 Henry A. Wise, American lawyer and politician (33rd Governor of Virginia), born in Drummondtown, Virginia (d. 1876)
- Dec 6 Gilbert Duprez, French composer, born in Paris (d. 1896)
- Dec 9 Jean-Olivier Chénier, French Canadian physician and Patriote, born in Lachine, Canada (d. 1838)
- Dec 12 Stand Watie, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Calhoun, Georgia (d. 1871)