- Jan 1 Georges Cadoudal, Breton politician and royalist who plotted to overthrow Napoleon, born in Brech, Brittany, Kingdom of France (d. 1804)
- Jan 17 Charles Brockden Brown 'Father of American novel', American pioneering writer and editor (Wieland), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1810)
- Jan 26 Jacob Andries van Braam, Dutch merchant and colonial administrator (Suriname), born in Chin-Surah (d. 1820)
- Jan 30 George Bass, English explorer of Australia (Bass Strait), born in Sleaford, England (possibly d. 1803)
- Feb 28 François Kinsoen, Flemish portrait painter (court painter to King of Westphalia), born in Bruges (d. 1839)
- Mar 10 Georg Friedrich Creuzer, German classical scholar (Idea und Probe), born in Marburg an der Lahn, Hesse (d. 1858)
- Mar 22 Heinrich D. Zschokke, German Swiss author (Das Goldmacherdorf), born in Magdeburg, Prussia (d. 1848)
- Apr 13 Frans Adam van der Duyn van Maasdam, Dutch governor (South Holland), born in Deventer, Netherlands (d. 1848)
- Apr 13 Richard Trevithick, English inventor (steam locomotive), born in Tregajorran, England (d. 1833)
- Apr 18 Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg, Austrian field marshal, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1820)
- May 14 Robert Owen, Welsh factory owner and utopian socialist, born in Newtown, Wales (d. 1858)
- May 19 Rahel Varnhagen von Ense-Levin, German literary hostess, born in Berlin, Prussia (d. 1833)
- Jun 3 Charles Bernard Desormes, French physicist and chemist who determined the ratio of the specific heats of gases and the composition of carbon monoxide and carbon disulfide, born in Dijon, France (d. 1862)
- Jun 3 Sydney Smith, English preacher, reformer and author, born in Woodford, Essex (d. 1845)
- Jun 5 Ernest Augustus I, Duke of Cumberland and King of Hanover (1837-51), born in Buckingham House, London (d. 1851)
- Jun 5 Willem Frederik van Bylandt, Dutch military officer, born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1855)
- Jun 12 Patrick Gass, sergeant of Lewis and Clark Expedition, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1870)
- Jun 19 Joseph Diez Gergonne, French mathematician, born in Nancy, France (d. 1859)
- Jun 20 Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, Scottish philanthropist, born in St Mary's Isle, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland (d. 1820)
- Jun 24 Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, French-American chemist and industrialist (E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company), born in Paris (d. 1834)
- Aug 15 Walter Scott, Scottish historical novelist and poet (The Lady of the Lake, Rob Roy), born in College Wynd, Edinburgh Scotland (d. 1832)
- Aug 22 Henry Maudslay, English inventor of the metal lathe, born in Woolwich, London (d. 1831)
Archduke Charles (1771-1847)
Sep 5 Duke of Teschen, Austrian field marshal during the Napoleonic wars, born in Florence, Italy
- Sep 11 Mungo Park, Scottish explorer (first westerner to travel the central Niger River in Africa), born in Selkirkshire, Scotland (d. 1806)
- Sep 14 Nikolay Raevsky, Russian general and statesman, born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 1829)
- Sep 17 Johann August Apel, German jurist and writer, born in Leipzig, Germany (d. 1816)
- Sep 23 Emperor Kokaku of Japan (d. 1840)
- Oct 9 Frederik Willem, Duke of Brunswick (1813-15), born in Brunswick, Germany (d. 1815)
- Oct 23 Jean-Andoche Junot, French general under Napoleon, born in Bussy-le-Grand, France (d. 1813)
- Nov 11 Ephraim McDowell, American physician and surgeon (pioneered abdominal surgery), born in Rockbridge, Virginia (d. 1830)
Marie Francois Xavier Bichat (1771-1802)
Nov 14 French anatomist and physiologist (tissue theory), born in Paris
- Nov 22 Paulus Roelof Cantz'laar, Dutch naval officer and colonial governor, born in Amsterdam (d. 1831)
- Dec 25 Dorothy Wordsworth, English poet, diarist and sister of William Wordsworth, born in Cockermouth, Cumberland, England (d. 1855)
- Dec 26 Heinrich Joseph von Collin, Austria dramatist and poet (Regulus), born in Vienna (d. 1811)
- Dec 26 Julie Clary, queen consort of Naples (d. 1845)