- May 5 Max Elskamp, Belgian author and poet (Lesson Joies Blondes, Maya), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1931)
- May 15 Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian playwright/novelist (La Ronde)
- May 18 Freiherr Albert von Schrenk-Notzing, German para-psychologist
- May 19 Mikhail Nesterov, Russian painter (d. 1942)
- May 22 August Cuppens, Flemish author (Limburgs Driemanschap), born in Beringen, Belgium (d. 1924)