- Jan 1 Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss Protestant leader (d. 1531)
- Jan 17 George Spalatin, German humanist, reformer and important figure in the Reformation, born in Spalt, Bavaria (d. 1545)
- Feb 21 Joachim I Nestor, Prince-elector of Brandenburg (opposed Protestantism) (d. 1535)
- Apr 12 Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect, born in Florence (d. 1546)
- Apr 23 Julius Caesar Scaliger, Italian-French physician and scholar (On the Subtlety of Things), born in Riva, Italy (d. 1558)
- Nov 11 Bartolomé de las Casas, Spanish friar and social historian, born in Seville, Crown of Castile (d. 1566)
- Nov 29 Joachim Vadian, Swiss humanist (d. 1551)
- Dec 28 Joachim Vadian [Vadianus] Swiss humanist, scholar and protestant reformer, born in St. Gallen, Switzerland (d. 1551)