- Jan 1 Edwin Franko Goldman, composer
- Jan 6 Dame Adeline Genée, Danish-British ballerina, born in Aarhus, Denmark (d. 1970)
- Jan 15 Johanna Muller-Hermann, Austrian composer (Lied der Erinnerung), born in Vienna (d. 1941)
- Jan 23 Rutland Boughton, British composer (The Immortal Hour), born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire (d. 1960)
- Jan 28 Walter Kollo [Kollodziepski], German composer (Der Juxbaron)