- Dec 4 Melesio Morales, Mexican composer, born in Mexico City (d. 1908)
- Dec 11 Whitney Eugene Thayer, American composer, born in Mendon, Massachusetts (d. 1889)
- Dec 13 Alexis de Castillon, French composer, born in Chartres, France (d. 1873)
- Dec 17 Berthold Tours, Dutch-English composer, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1897)