- Dec 2 Charles Garrison Harker, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Swedesboro, New Jersey (d. 1864)
- Dec 9 Émile Waldteufel [Charles Émile Lévy], French pianist and composer (Estudiantina; Les Patineurs - The Skaters' Waltz), born in Strasbourg, France (d. 1915)
- Dec 14 William Wells, American businessman, politician, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Waterbury, Vermont (d. 1892)
- Dec 18 Adolf Daens, Flemish priest, politician and founder of the Daensist movement, born in Aalst, Belgium (d. 1907)
- Dec 19 John Carpenter Carter, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1864)
- Dec 24 Empress Elisabeth of Austria, born in Munich, Germany (d. 1898)
- Dec 25 Cosima Liszt, Hungarian-French music promoter (co-founded Bayreuth Festival), wife of composer Richard Wagner, daughter of Franz Liszt and Marie d'Agoult, born at Lake Como (d. 1930)
George Dewey (1837-1917)
Dec 26 American admiral, naval hero in Battle of Manila Bay, born in Montpelier, Vermont
