- May 5 Antonio Smareglia, Italian composer, born in Pula, Austria-Hungary (d. 1929)
- May 11 Jack Blackham, Australian cricket wicketkeeper (35 Tests, 4 x 50s, 61 dismissals; Victoria CA), born in Melbourne, Australia (d. 1932)
- May 11 Ottmar Mergenthaler, German-American inventor who invented the linotype machine that revolutionized printing, born in Hachtel, Kingdom of Württemberg (d. 1899)
- May 13 Louis H. Chrispijn, Dutch actor and director (Krates, Lost & Found, Silvia Silombra), born in Amsterdam, Netherland (d. 1926)
- May 13 Paul Klengel, German pianist, violinist, composer and educator, born in Leipzig (d. 1935)
- May 18 Bernard Zweers, Dutch composer (Gisbertus of Aemstel; To My Fatherland), born in Amsterdam (d. 1924)
- May 24 John Riley Banister, American law officer and cowboy, born in Banister Hollow, Camden County, Missouri (d. 1918)
- May 24 Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven, admiral (WWI), born in Graz, Austrian Empire (d. 1921)
- May 27 Georges Eekhoud, Belgian writer (Jeune Belgium), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1927)