1552 (MDLII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 1552nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 552nd year of the 2nd millennium, the 52nd year of the 16th century, and the 3rd year of the 1550s decade. As of the start of 1552, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which was the dominant calendar of the time.

• February 1 – Edward Coke, English business person (d. 1634)
• February 8 – Agrippa d'Aubigné, French poet and soldier (d. 1630)
• February 19 – Melchior Klesl, Austrian statesman and cardinal (d. 1630)
• February 28 – Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (d. 1632)
• June 18 – Gabriello Chiabrera, Italian poet (d. 1637)
• July 18 – Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1612)
• August 24 – Lavinia Fontana, Italian painter (d. 1614)
• September 22 – Tsar Vasili IV of Russia (d. 1612)
• October 6 – Matteo Ricci, Italian Jesuit missionary to China (d. 1610)
• December 29 – Henri I de Bourbon, prince de Condé (d. 1588)
• December 30 – Simon Forman, English occultist and astrologer (d. 1611)
• date unknown
  • Hans von Aachen, German mannerist painter (d. 1615)
  • Thomas Aufield, English martyr (d. 1585)
  • Jean Bertaut, French poet (d. 1611)
  • Miguel de Benavides, Spanish clergyman (d. 1605)
  • Richard Hakluyt, English writer, editor and translator (b. c. 1552 or 1553; d. 1616)
  • Philemon Holland, English translator (d. 1637)
  • Francisco Goméz de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma, Spanish politician (d. 1625)
  • Dom Justo Takayama, Japanese daimyo (d. 1615)
  • Jean Hotman, Marquis de Villers-St-Paul, French diplomat (d. 1636)
  • Jack Ward, English pirate (d. 1622)

• January 10 – Johann Cochlaeus, German humanist (b. 1479)
• January 22 – Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, English politician (b. 1509)
• February 26 – Heinrich Faber, German composer (b. 1500)
• April 18 – John Leland, English historian (b. 1502)
• May 26 – Sebastian Münster, German map maker (b. 1488)
• June 10 – Alexander Barclay, British poet (b. 1476)
• July 9 – György Szondy Hungarian soldier
• August 15 – Hermann of Wied, German Catholic archbishop (b. 1477)
• October 14 – Oswald Myconius, Swiss Protestant reformer (b. 1488)
• October 17 – Andreas Osiander, German Protestant theologian (b. 1498)
• December 2 – Francis Xavier, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1506)
• December 20 – Katharina von Bora, wife of Martin Luther (b. 1499)