- Dec 4 Elias Smith Dennis, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Newburgh, New York (d. 1894)
- Dec 6 Robert Spear Hudson, English businessman, born in West Bromwich, Staffordshire (d. 1884)
- Dec 14 Charles Canning, English 1st viceroy of British-Indies, born in Brompton, London (d. 1862)
- Dec 15 Isidor Dannström, Swedish composer, born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1897)
- Dec 16 William Grose, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Dayton, Ohio (d. 1900)
- Dec 18 Wiktor Kazynski, Polish composer, born in Vilnius, Russian Empire (d. 1867)
- Dec 20 Achille Peri, Italian composer and conductor, born in Reggio Emilia, Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) (d. 1880)
- Dec 22 Johanne Luise Heiberg, Danish actress (Romeo & Juliet), born in Copenhagen Denmark (d. 1890)
- Dec 23 Samuel Smiles, Scottish writer and reformer (Self-Help, Character, Duty), born in Berwickshire, Scotland (d. 1904)
- Dec 23 William Hauser, American composer and minister, born in Bethania, North Carolina (d. 1880)
- Dec 24 Henry Russell, English pianist and composer, born in Sheerness, England (d. 1900)
- Dec 24 Karl Eduard Zachariae, German jurist, born in Heidelberg, Germany (d. 1894)
- Dec 26 Wilhelm Volkmar, German composer, born in Bad Hersfeld, Germany (d. 1887)
- Dec 28 Julius Reitz, German cellist, composer, teacher, and music editor, born in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1877)
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