- Aug 1 Henry Darwin Rogers, American Geologist (theory of mountain building, first geological mapping of Pennsylvania), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1866)
- Aug 3 Hamilton Fish, American politician (Governor of New York), born in NYC, New York (d. 1893)
- Aug 9 William Thomas Ward, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Amelia County, Virginia (d. 1878)
- Aug 10 Carl Friedrich Weitzmann, composer
- Aug 19 James Nasmyth, Scottish engineer and inventor of the steam hammer, born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1890)
- Aug 24 Thomas Fenwick Drayton, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Charleston, South Carolina (d. 1891)
- Aug 26 Benjamin Grubb Humphreys, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Claiborne County, Mississippi (d. 1882)
- Aug 29 Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch, German politician and reformer, born in Delitzsch, Saxony (d. 1883)
- Aug 30 Princess Ludovika of Bavaria, Mother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, born in Munich (d. 1892)