January[edit]

• 5 January – Ivan Wyatt, cricketer (d. 2009)
• 11 January – Rex Cunningham, rugby league player (d. 2015)
• 13 January – Brian Barratt-Boyes, heart surgeon (d. 2006)
• 15 January
  • Barbara Angus, diplomat, historian (d. 2005)
  • George Lowe, mountaineer and explorer (d. 2013)
• 21 January
  • Bill Andersen, trade unionist (d. 2005)
  • Ronald Sinclair, actor, film editor (d. 1992)
• 22 January – Ortvin Sarapu, chess player (d. 1999)
• 27 January
  • Lyn Philp, boxer (d. 1981)
  • Hector Wilson, rugby union player (d. 2004)
• 28 January – Wharetutu Stirling, Ngāi Tahu leader, conservationist (d. 1993)

February[edit]

• 14 February
  • Bos Murphy, boxer (d. 2000)
  • Reg Singer, association footballer (d. 2001)
• 24 February – Jack Forrest, rugby league player (d. 2016)
• 27 February – John Shanahan, swimmer (d. 1987)
• 29 February – David Beattie, jurist, sports administrator, 14th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 2001)

March[edit]

• 5 March – Nau Cherrington, rugby union player (d. 1979)
• 6 March – Percy Murphy, politician, first Māori mayor (d. 2009)
• 7 March
  • J.G.A. Pocock, historian (d. 2023)
  • Brownie Pūriri, public servant (d. 1979)
• 9 March – Warren Sinclair, radiation science and medicine expert (d. 2014)
• 10 March – Peter Stichbury, potter (d. 2015)
• 22 March – Grace Gooder, cricketer (d. 1983)
• 24 March – Norm Holland, jockey (d. 2014)
• 26 March
  • Jack McNab, rugby union player, coach and administrator (d. 2009)
  • Josie Yelas, netball player (d. 1996)
• 29 March – Haydn Sherley, broadcaster (d. 2007)
• 31 March – Joan de Hamel, children's writer (d. 2011)

April[edit]

• 2 April – Lauris Edmond, poet and writer (d. 2000)
• 5 April – Barbara Hale, librarian (d. 2013)
• 3 April – Errol Brathwaite, writer (d. 2005)
• 18 April – Tiny White, equestrian (d. 2020)
• 30 April
  • Richard Giese, flautist (d. 2010)
  • Mervyn Probine, physicist, public servant (d. 2010)

May[edit]

• 1 May – Ted Johnson, rower (d. 1985)
• 5 May – Frank Creagh, boxer (d. 1998)
• 12 May – Malcolm Templeton, diplomat (d. 2017)
• 22 May – Stella Casey, social campaigner (d. 2000)

June[edit]

• 2 June – Pat Evison, actor (d. 2010)
• 3 June – Ken Armstrong, association footballer (d. 1984)
• 7 June – Bob Tizard, politician (d. 2016)
• 8 June – Ian Colquhoun, cricketer (d. 2005)
• 9 June – John Scott, architect (d. 1992)
• 14 June
  • David Ballantyne, journalist, writer (d. 1986)
  • Miriam Dell, women's advocate (d. 2022)

July[edit]

• 7 July – D. P. O'Connell, barrister, legal academic (d. 1979)
• 15 July
  • Bub Bridger, poet and short story writer (d. 2009)
  • Brian Sutton-Smith, writer and play theorist (d. 2015)
• 23 July – Betty Bourke, politician, health administrator (d. 2015)
• 25 July
  • Jim Beard, architect (d. 2017)
  • Peter Mann, Anglican bishop (d. 1999)
• 26 July – Ces Renwick, cricketer (d. 2014)
• 28 July
  • Eric Fisher, cricketer (d. 1996)
  • William Fraser, politician (d. 2001)

August[edit]

• 1 August – Peter Smith, rugby union player (d. 1954)
• 2 August – Ainsley Iggo, neurophysiologist (d. 2012)
• 7 August – Alan Wilkinson, association footballer (d. 2015)
• 12 August – Gordon Hobson, amateur wrestler (d. 1985)
• 13 August – John Rymer, Anglican cleric (d. 2003)
• 22 August – Pat O'Connor, professional wrestler (d. 1990)
• 23 August
  • Bahri Kavaja, association footballer (d. 1987)
  • Doug Mudgway, amateur wrestler (d. 1988)
• 28 August
  • Tony MacGibbon, cricketer (d. 2010)
  • Janet Frame, writer (d. 2004)
• 31 August – Don Beaven, medical researcher (d. 2009)

September[edit]

• 3 September – John Ingram, mechanical engineer, businessman (d. 2015)
• 4 September – Lory Blanchard, rugby league player and coach (d. 2013)
• 5 September – Nick Carter, cyclist (d. 2003)
• 6 September – Hugh Poole, sailor (d. 2012)
• 7 September – Wanda Cowley, children's writer (d. 2017)
• 8 September – Frank Holmes, economist (d. 2011)
• 15 September – Rex Challies, cricketer (d. 2003)
• 17 September – Les Watt, cricketer (d. 1996)
• 23 September – Peggy Hay, designer (d. 2016)
• 24 September – Sammy Guillen, cricketer (d. 2013)
• 27 September – Louis Johnson, poet (d. 1988)
• 30 September – Trevor Hatherton, geophysicist (d. 1992)

October[edit]

• 5 October – Victor Brooker, cricketer
• 11 October – Arthur Hughes, rugby union player, businessman, horse racing administrator (d. 2005)
• 19 October – Keith Gudsell, rugby union player (d. 2007)
• 30 October – Roy McLennan, politician (d. 2013)

November[edit]

• 5 November – Geoff Smale, sailor (d. 2011)
• 23 November
  • Doug Coombes, mineralogist and petrologist (d. 2016)
  • Doug Dillon, jurist (d. 1999)
• 28 November – Colin McLachlan, politician (d. 1985)

December[edit]

• 2 December
  • Gerald O'Brien, politician (d. 2017)
  • Brian Poananga, sportsman, military leader, diplomat (d. 1995)
• 5 December – Gavin Downie, politician (d. 1998)
• 7 December – Jimmy Haig, rugby union and rugby league player (d. 1996)
• 12 December
  • Neill Austin, politician (d. 2008)
  • Brown Turei, Anglican archbishop (d. 2017)
• 23 December – Len Castle, potter (d. 2011)
• 26 December – Leonard Kent, cricketer (d. 2014)
• 28 December – Loo-Chi Hu, marine equipment designer, t'ai chi teacher (d. 2013)
• 29 December
  • Eve Poole, 41st Mayor of Invercargill (d. 1992)
  • Bob Vance, cricket player and administrator (d. 1994)
  • Ivan Walsh, association footballer, cricketer (d. 2005)
• 30 December – Joe Phillips, rugby league player (d. 1969)

January–March[edit]

• 5 January – Mary Player, midwife, feminist, social reformer (born c.1857)
• 6 January – Henry Hill, cricketer (born 1845)
• 19 January – Frances Parker, suffragette (born 1875)
• 24 January – Acton Adams, politician (born 1843)
• 27 January – William Gardiner, cricketer (born 1864)
• 2 February
  • Daniel Claffey, cricketer (born 1869)
  • John Duncan, politician (born 1848)
• 11 February – Arthur Lomas, cricketer (born 1895)
• 17 February – James Tibbs, schoolteacher (born 1855)
• 22 February – Mary Dawson, farmer, environmentalist (born 1833)
• 24 February – Joseph Borton, cricketer (born 1832)
• 1 March – Elizabeth Parsons, singer (born 1846)
• 4 March – Gilbert Carson, politician (born 1842)
• 6 March – Grace Joel, artist (born 1865)
• 10 March – George Bourne, photographer (born 1875)
• 17 March – Martin Chapman, cricketer, barrister, politician (born 1846)

April–June[edit]

• 3 April – Alfred Newman, politician (born 1849)
• 19 April – Charles Louisson, politician (born 1842)
• 7 May – Alfred Luttrell, architect and building contractor (born 1865)
• 9 May – James Mason, doctor, bacteriologist, public health administrator (born 1864)
• 19 May – Joseph Pabst, cricketer (born 1870)

July–September[edit]

• 17 July – William Davidson, pioneer of refrigerated shipping (born 1846)
• 19 July – Sir Walter Buchanan. politician (born 1838)
• 25 July – Lawrence Birks, electrical engineer (born 1874)
• 10 August – Edward Wakefield, politician (born 1845)
• 19 August – Alfred Baldey, politician (born 1836)
• 17 September – Richard Vincent, cricketer (born 1846)
• 19 September – Sir John Salmond, legal academic, public servant, jurist (born 1862)
• 27 September – Thomson Leys, journalist, newspaper editor and proprietor, philanthropist (born 1850)

October–December[edit]

• 18 October – Walter Mason, cricketer (born 1847)
• 23 October – Eparaima Te Mutu Kapa, politician (born c.1842)
• 13 November – Charles Boxshall, cricketer (born 1862)
• 27 November – Joseph Grimmond, politician (born 1843)
• 15 December – Paratene Ngata, Ngāti Porou leader, politician (born c.1849)
• 19 December – William Maslin, politician (born 1850)