- Jan 3 (Gertrude) "Henriette" Sontag, later Countess Rossi, German operatic soprano (Carl Maria von Weber's "Euryanthe"), born in Koblenz, Rhin-et-Moselle, First French Republic (d. 1854)
- Jan 5 André Henri Constant van Hasselt, Belgian poet (La Belgium), born in Maastricht, Meuse-Inférieure (d. 1874)
- Jan 14 Matthew Fontaine Maury, Naval Commander (Confederacy), born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia (d. 1873)
- Jan 14 Sir Charles Hotham, Governor of Victoria, born in Dennington, United Kingdom (d. 1855)
- Jan 17 James Madison Randolph, American President Jefferson's grandson and the 1st to be born in the White House, born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1834)
- Jan 19 Vaclav Jindrich Veit, Czech composer, born in Řepnice, Kingdom of Bohemia (d. 1864)
- Jan 20 Nathaniel Parker Willis, American writer, editor and founder of the American Monthly Magazine, born in Portland, Maine (d. 1867)
- Jan 24 Anna Caroline Oury (née De Belleville), German concert pianist and composer, born in Landshut, kingdom of Bavaria (d. 1880)
- Jan 25 Daniel Maclise, Irish painter, born in Cork, Republic of Ireland (d. 1870)
- Jan 27 Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Basque child prodigy and composer, born in Bilbao, Spain (d. 1826)
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
80-89
Over 90