- May 2 D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, Scottish zoologist and classicist (On Growth & Form), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1948)
Theodor Herzl (1860-1904)
May 2 Austrian journalist and father of modern political Zionism (World Zionist Organization), born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary
- May 2 William Maddock Bayliss, British physiologist, co-discoverer of hormones, born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire (d. 1924)
- May 3 John Scott Haldane, Scottish physiologist, born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1936)
- May 3 Vito Volterra, Italian mathematician and physicist, born in Ancona, Italy (d. 1940)
- May 4 Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek, Austrian composer (Donna Diana), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1945)
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937)
May 9 Scottish novelist and playwright who created Peter Pan, born in Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland
- May 15 Ellen Axson Wilson (née Ellen Louise Axson), American artist and First Lady (US, 1913-14; New Jersey, 1911-13), 1st wife of US President Woodrow Wilson, born in Savannah, Georgia (d. 1914)
- May 17 Austin Lane Crothers, American politician (Governor of Maryland, 1908-12), born in Conowingo, Maryland (d. 1912)
- May 19 Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, Prime Minister of Italy (1917-19) who represented Italy at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, born in Palermo, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (d. 1952)
- May 20 Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1917)
- May 21 Willem Einthoven, Dutch physiologist and inventor of the electrocardiodiogram (Nobel Prize in Medicine 1924), born in Semarang, Dutch East Indies (d. 1927)
- May 25 James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist, born in Easton, Pennsylvania (d. 1944)
- May 27 Manuel Teixeira Gomes, Portuguese politician and writer (7th President of Portugal 1923-25), born in Portimão, Portugal (d. 1941)
- May 29 Isaac Albéniz, Spanish pianist, conductor, and composer (Suite española; Tango in D), born in Camprodon, Spain (d. 1909)
- May 31 Walter Sickert, Danish-English painter (The Miner), born in Munich (d. 1942)
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
80-89
Over 90