- Dec 3 Edmond van der Straeten, Belgian lawyer and musicologist, born in Oudenaarde, Belgium (d. 1895)
- Dec 21 Ernst Pauer, Austrian composer and pianist, born in Vienna (d. 1905)
- Dec 24 Ignacy Krzyzanowski, Polish composer, born in Opatów, Poland (d. 1905)
- Dec 26 Franz Coenen, composer
- Dec 31 Henry Hiles, English composer, born in Shrewsbury (d. 1904)