- Jan 8 John Selden Roane, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1867)
- Jan 8 Sir Theophilus Shepstone, South African statesman, born in England, United Kingdom (d. 1893)
- Jan 14 Harmen Sytstra, Dutch poet & editor (Iduna), born in Mullum, Netherlands (d. 1862)
- Jan 15 Lewis Golding Arnold, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey (d. 1871)
- Jan 18 Jacques Gregoir, Belgian pianist and composer, born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1876)
- Jan 31 Antony Winkler Prins, Dutch writer (Groiler Encyclopaedia), born in Voorst (d. 1908)