- May 3 Nicoline Magdalene Roll Anker, Norwegian author (Kvinnen og Den), born in Møre og Romsdal, Norway (d. 1942)
- May 3 Pavlo Skoropadsky, Ukrainian politician and general, born in Wiesbaden, Germany (d. 1945)
- May 4 Joe De Grasse, Canadian film director, born in Bathurst, New Brunswick Canada (d. 1940)
- May 5 Leon Czolgosz, American anarchist and assassin of US President William McKinley, born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1901)
- May 7 Clarence Dickinson, American composer, born in Lafayette, Indiana (d. 1969)
- May 8 Henry Leveson-Gower, English cricket batsman & captain (3 Tests; Surrey CCC, Oxford University CC), born in Titsey Place, Surrey, England (d. 1954)
- May 9 Anton Cermak, American politician (44th Mayor of Chicago, 1931-33), born in Kladno, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1933)
Howard Carter (1873-1939)
May 9 British archaeologist and egyptologist who found King Tutankhamun's tomb, born in London
- May 9 Lilian Mary Baylis, English theatrical manager (Old Vic & Sadler's Wells Theater), born in London (d. 1937)
- May 10 Carl Eldh, Swedish artist and sculptor, born in Östhammar Municipality, Sweden (d. 1954)
- May 10 Jan Kalf, Dutch art historian and literary scholar (Monument Conservation), (d. 1954)
- May 15 Nikolay Tcherepnin, Russian composer of ballets, born in St Petersburg, Russia [OS: 03/05]
- May 17 Dorothy M. Richardson, English novelist (Pilgrimage), born in Abington, Berkshire (d. 1957)
- May 17 Henri Barbusse, French novelist (Le Feu), born in Asnieres, France (d. 1935)
- May 19 Federico Gerdes, Peruvian pianist, composer, and educator (founder and first director of the National Conservatory of Music, 1909-26), born in Tacna, Peru (d. 1953)
- May 21 Emil Ermatinger, Swiss literature historian, born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland (d. 1953)
- May 21 Everard Verachtert, Flemish translator (I speak beschaafd Dutch)
- May 21 Hans Berger, German neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and inventor of electroencephalography (EEG), born in Neuses, German Empire (d. 1941)
- May 23 Leo Baeck, rabbi/president (World Union for Progressive Judaism)
- May 26 C.G.N. de Vooys, Dutch translator and founder (New Taalgids), born in Gouda, Netherlands (d. 1955)
- May 26 Olaf Gulbransson, Norwegian artist, born in Oslo, Norway (d. 1958)