- Jan 10 Alexander Travis Hawthorn, American Brigadier-General (Confederate Army), born in Conecuh County, Alabama (d. 1899)
- Jan 11 Bayard Taylor, U.S. poet and writer (d. 1878
- Jan 12 Joseph Robert Davis, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1896)
- Jan 18 Edward Frankland, Lancaster, U.K, British structural chemist who co-discovered helium and developed the theory of valence
- Jan 21 Imre Madách, Hungarian writer (d. 1864)
- Jan 28 George Edward Pickett, Major General (Confederate Army), (d. 1875)