January[edit]

• 1 January – Inez Kingi, health advocate (died 2022)
• 2 January – Ritchie Johnston, cyclist (died 2001)
• 12 January – Bert Ormond, association footballer (died 2017)
• 14 January – Norm Wilson, cricketer (died 2018)
• 19 January – Pat Hunt, politician (died 2023)
• 20 January – Allan Tong, rower
• 23 January – Gordon McLauchlan, author (died 2020)
• 30 January – Doug Wilson, rugby union player (died 2019)

February[edit]

• 1 February – Nicholas Tarling, historian (died 2017)
• 10 February – Keith Bagley, rugby union player (died 1999)
• 14 February – Peter Wardle, botanist (died 2008)
• 15 February – Lloyd Ashby, rugby union player
• 21 February
  • Warren Dibble, poet, playwright (died 2014)
  • Te Paekiomeka Joy Ruha, Māori leader (died 2011)
• 22 February – Bryce Postles, cricketer (died 2011)

March[edit]

• 4 March – Don Jowett, athlete, rugby union player (died 2011)
• 5 March
  • Ian Clarke, rugby union player (died 1997)
  • Brian Fitzpatrick, rugby union player (died 2006)
• 9 March – Jack Lasenby, children's author (died 2019)
• 10 March – Colin Loader, rugby union player (died 2021)
• 11 March – Colin Jillings, Thoroughbred racehorse trainer (died 2022)
• 19 March – Cliff Skeggs, businessman, politician, mayor of Dunedin
• 31 March
  • Shirley Murray, hymn lyricist (died 2020)
  • Bruce Papas, fashion designer (died 2020)

April[edit]

• 3 April – Elspeth Kennedy, sharebroker, community leader (died 2017)
• 4 April
  • Eric Anderson, rugby union player and coach (died 2014)
  • Catherine Tizard, politician, mayor of Auckland, 16th governor-general (died 2021)
• 6 April – Ian Grey, rugby league player (died 2009)
• 7 April – John McDonald, cricketer
• 9 April
  • Ruth Castle, weaver
  • Patrick Murray, priest, editor, ecumenicist (died 1983)
• 10 April – Neil Waters, chemist, university administrator (died 2018)
• 13 April – Doug Armstrong, cricketer, sports broadcaster, politician (died 2015)
• 14 April – Bruce Pairaudeau, cricketer (died 2022)
• 20 April – Bill Tolhurst, politician (died 2013)
• 23 April – John Williams, cricketer

May[edit]

• 3 May – Malcolm Hahn, javelin thrower (died 2010)
• 12 May – Murray Ashby, rower (died 1990)
• 17 May – Thomas Eichelbaum, jurist (died 2018)
• 20 May – Barry Brown, boxer (died 2004)
• 22 May – Buddy Lucas, swimmer, surf livesaver (died 2002)
• 23 May – Rex Austin, politician (died 2022)

June[edit]

• 2 June – Joyce Waters, inorganic chemist
• 18 June – Jane Soons, geomorphologist (died 2020)
• 19 June – Heather Nicholson geologist, writer (died 2019)
• 26 June
  • George Martin, rugby league player, field athlete (died 2017)
  • John Scott, medical researcher (died 2015)

July[edit]

• 2 July – Robin Gray, politician (died 2022)
• 6 July – John Spencer, boat designer (died 1996)
• 18 July – Peter Goddard, educationalist (died 2012)
• 21 July – Roy Meehan, wrestler (died 2011)
• 23 July – Te Atairangikaahu, 6th Māori monarch (died 2006)
• 24 July – Ray Laurent, rower (died 2010)
• 25 July – Murray Day, squash administrator (died 2022)
• 26 July – Jean Puketapu, Māori language activist, kōhanga reo pioneer (died 2012)
• 27 July – David Goldsmith, field hockey player (died 2017)
• 28 July – Peter Shirtcliffe, businessman

August[edit]

• 3 August
  • Rod Bieleski, plant physiologist (died 2016)
  • Lee Grant, actress, singer (died 2016)
• 9 August
  • Mike Hinge, artist and illustrator (died 2003)
  • Ernie Leonard, television presenter, wrestling commentator, actor (died 1994)
• 10 August
  • Richard Atkins, diplomat (died 1998)
  • Bruce Slane, public servant, lawyer (died 2017)
• 11 August – Ralph Hotere, artist (died 2013)
• 13 August – Norman Read, racewalker (died 1994)
• 22 August – Maurice Gee, novelist, screenwriter

September[edit]

• 4 September – Bill Skelton, jockey (died 2016)
• 5 September
  • Bill Bell, cricketer (died 2002)
  • Stew Nairn, sports shooter (died 1991)
• 12 September – John Ogilvie, cricketer (died 2021)
• 15 September
  • Brian Henderson, radio and television personality (died 2021)
  • Lincoln Hurring, swimmer and swimming coach (died 1993)
  • Harold Marshall, acoustician
• 28 September – Noel Pope, local-body politician (died 2019)
• 30 September – Geoffrey Chisholm, urologist (died 1994)

October[edit]

• 6 October – Michael Hardie Boys, jurist, 17th governor-general (died 2023)
• 9 October – Mark Otway, tennis player (died 2014)
• 14 October – Colin Dickinson, cyclist (died 2006)
• 16 October
  • Peter Bush, sports photographer (died 2023)
  • Kristin Jacobi, swimmer
  • Ian Quigley, politician (died 2016)
• 17 October – Mazhar Krasniqi, Muslim community leader, human rights activist (died 2019)
• 23 October – James McNeish, novelist, playwright, biographer (died 2016)
• 25 October – Beverley Holloway, entomologist (died 2023)
• 29 October – Murray Loudon, field hockey player, dentist (died 2019)
• 30 October – Alma Johnson, television personality (died 2017)

November[edit]

• 2 November – Steve Kuzmicich, statistician (died 2018)
• 9 November – Eion Scarrow, gardening personality, broadcaster and author (died 2013)
• 12 November – Jeanne Macaskill, artist (died 2014)
• 21 November – Bruce Townshend, politician (died 1987)
• 27 November – Keith Allen, politician (died 1984)
• 30 November – Vivian Lynn, artist (died 2018)

December[edit]

• 8 December – David Crooks, air force officer (died 2022)
• 11 December – Bryce Harland, diplomat (died 2006)
• 17 December – Frank Devine, journalist, newspaper editor (died 2009)
• 18 December – Noel McGregor, cricketer (died 2007)

Exact date unknown[edit]

• Nola Barron, potter
• Con Cambie, natural products chemist
• Beverley Randell, children's author

January–March[edit]

• 12 January – Peter Cheal, surveyor (born 1846)
• 18 January
  • Daldy MacWilliams, goldminer, businessman, sportsman (born 1860)
  • Owen Merton, painter (born 1887)
• 20 January – Shailer Weston, politician (born 1868)
• 31 January – Job Osborne, farm contractor, well-sinker (born 1842)
• 21 February – Rhona Haszard, artist (born 1901)
• 27 February – Edith Searle Grossmann, novelist, journalist, feminist (born 1863)
• 15 March – William Beattie, photographer (born 1864)

April–June[edit]

• 13 April – Joseph Firth, cricketer, sports administrator, educator (born 1859)
• 18 April – Arthur Hall, politician (born 1880)
• 3 May – Hannah Dudley, Methodist mission sister (born 1864)
• 10 May – Anna Stout, social reformer (born 1858)
• 22 May – Bernard Chambers, viticulturist, winemaker (born 1859)
• 26 May – Richard Barton, pastoralist, author (born 1879)
• 6 June – William Baucke, linguist, ethnologist, journalist (born 1848)
• 10 June – May Moore, photographer (born 1881)

July–September[edit]

• 5 July – Henry Winkelmann, photographer (born 1860)
• 12 July – Noel Brodrick, surveyor (born 1855)
• 1 August – Dick Stewart, rugby union player (born 1871)
• 12 August – Lizzie Rattray, journalist, suffragist (born 1855)
• 28 August – Tene Waitere, carver (born c.1853)
• 9 September – Elsdon Best, ethnographer (born 1856)
• 10 September – Pratt Kempthorne, Anglican clergyman (born 1849)

October–December[edit]

• 6 October – Robert Yates, cricketer (born 1845)
• 24 October
  • Alfred Eckhold, rugby union player, cricketer (born 1885)
  • John Potter, stonemason, builder (born 1834)
• 28 October – Edward Tregear, surveyor, public servant, linguist (born 1846)
• 30 October – Joseph Witheford, politician (born 1848)
• 31 October – Charles Gleeson, cricketer (born 1845)
• 5 November - Jane Stowe, New Zealand artist (born 1838)
• 28 November
  • John Stalker, rugby union player (born 1881)
  • Heathcote Williams, cricket player and administrator (born 1859)
• 7 December – Sir John Luke, politician, mayor of Wellington (born 1858)
• 23 December – Jack Stanaway, rugby league player (born 1873)
• 29 December – William Earnshaw, politician (born 1852)