- Aug 14 Henry Duff Traill, British author and journalist (The Marquis of Salisbury), born in Blackheath, London (d. 1900)
- Aug 16 Jakob Rosanes, German mathematician (algebraic geometry and invariant theory), born in Brody, Ukraine (d. 1922)
- Aug 20 Juliaan de Vriendt, Flemish painter, born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1935)
- Aug 24 Edouard J. A. Agneessens, Flemish painter (Slave Market), born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1885)
- Aug 26 Heinrich Quincke, German internist and surgeon (introduced lumbar puncture), born in Frankfurt an der Oder (d. 1922)
- Aug 28 Willem Linnig The Younger, Flemish painter and graphic artist, born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1890)
- Aug 29 Alfred Shaw, English cricket medium/spin bowler (7 Tests; bowled first ball in Test cricket; first to take 5 wickets in a Test innings; Nottinghamshire CCC, MCC), born in Burton Joyce, England (d. 1907)
- Aug 30 Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna of Russia, Eldest child of Alexander II of Russia, born in Catherine Palace, Pushkin, Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1849)
- Aug 30 Victor Alphonse Duvernoy, French pianist and composer, born in Paris (d. 1907)