- Feb 9 Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese samurai (d. 1611)
- Feb 14 Christianus Adrichomius, Dutch Catholic priest & writer (Vita Jesu Christi), born in Delft, Netherlands (d. 1585)
- Feb 28 Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher and essayist (Essais), born in Château de Montaigne, Aquitaine, France (d. 1592)
- Apr 24 William I, Prince of Orange (1544-84), born in Dillenburg, County of Nassau, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1584)
- Jun 24 Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, English commander-in-chief in Netherlands (d. 1588)
- Aug 2 Theodor Zwinger, Swiss physician and scholar, born in Basel, Switzerland (d. 1588)
- Aug 7 Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga, Basque soldier and poet, born in Madrid (d. 1595)
Elizabeth I (1533-1603)
Sep 7 Queen of England and Ireland (1558-1603) and daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, born in Greenwich, London
