1928 in New Zealand

January

• 4 January – Tom Ah Chee, businessman (died 2000)
• 19 January – Dorothy Jelicich, trade unionist, politician (died 2015)
• 21 January – Ron Scott, sports administrator (died 2016)

February

• 1 February – John Dawson, botanist (died 2019)
• 3 February – Bill Crump, cricketer
• 5 February – Iain Campbell, cricketer, schoolteacher (died 2015)
• 9 February – George Groombridge, politician (died 2022)
• 15 February – David Hall, chemist (died 2016)
• 16 February – Murray Muir, cricketer (died 2004)
• 17 February – Larry Savage, rugby union player (died 2013)
• 19 February – Marti Friedlander, photographer (died 2016)
• 23 February – Taini Jamison, netball player and coach (died 2023)
• 26 February – Douglas St. John, cricketer (died 1992)
• 27 February – Yvonne Cartier, ballet dancer and instructor, mime (died 2014)
• 29 February
  • Ed Latter, politician (died 2016)
  • Alan Loveday, violinist (died 2016)

March

• 2 March – Don Richardson, musical arranger, producer and promoter, bandleader (died 2008)
• 16 March
  • Johnny Dodd, rugby league player (died 2007)
  • Leslie Swindale, soil scientist (died 2022)
• 17 March – Patricia Bartlett, pro-censorship activist (died 2000)
• 21 March – Boyce Richardson, journalist, author, filmmaker (died 2020)
• 22 March – Peter Malone, veterinary surgeon, politician (died 2006)
• 23 March – Allan Hubbard, businessman (died 2011)
• 31 March
  • Herbert Familton, alpine skier (died 2002)
  • Maurice Goodall, Anglican bishop died 2010)

April

• 3 April – Ralph Matthews, Anglican bishop (died 1983)
• 5 April – David Farquhar, composer, music academic (died 2007)
• 6 April
  • Ivan Armstrong, field hockey player and coach, tennis umpire, schoolteacher (died 2014)
  • Dave Dephoff, athlete (died 2014)
• 11 April – James Gill, cricketer (died 2019)
• 18 April – Abe Jacobs, wrestler (died 2023 in the United States)
• 21 April – Ian Brooks, politician (died 2022)
• 26 April – Shayle R. Searle, statistician (died 2013)
• 27 April – John Brown, cricket umpire (died 2005)

May

• 1 May – Tim Francis, diplomat (died 2016)
• 4 May – Tim Hewat, television producer and journalist (died 2004)
• 6 May – Heather Robson, badminton and tennis player (died 2019)
• 16 May – Emily Mair, opera singer, pianist and vocal coach (died 2021)
• 24 May – Jane Galletly, television scriptwriter (died 2017)
• 25 May – Christopher Rollinson, boxer (died 1988)

June

• 3 June – John Richard Reid, cricketer (died 2020)
• 4 June – Whakahuihui Vercoe, Anglican archbishop (died 2007)
• 27 June – Annette Johnson, alpine skier (died 2017)

July

• 4 July – Peter Mander, sailor, businessman (died 1998)
• 6 July – Pakaariki Harrison, tohunga whakairo (died 2008)
• 10 July – Janet Shackleton, hurdler (died 2021)
• 12 July
  • Pixie Williams, singer (died 2013)
  • Peter Yaxley, rugby league player and referee (died 2015)
• 24 July – Shirley Hardman, athlete (died 2019)
• 28 July – Edward Raymond Horton, convicted murderer (died 1977)

August

• 10 August – Dorrie Parker, athlete (died 1993)
• 14 August – John Stoke, occupational medicine expert, public servant (died 2000)
• 30 August – Mayzod Reid, diver (died 2001)

September

• 4 September – Kerry Ashby, rower (died 2015)
• 9 September – Edward Somers, jurist (died 2002)
• 18 September
  • Basil Arthur, politician (died 1985)
  • Arthur Berry, cricketer (died 2016)
• 19 September – Kevin Stuart, rugby union player (died 2005)
• 21 September – Con Devitt, trade unionist (died 2014)
• 25 September – George Hoskins, athlete (died 2000)
• 30 September – Owen Dolan, Roman Catholic bishop

October

• 6 October – Rex Hamilton, sport shooter (died 2010)
• 9 October
  • Eris Paton, cricketer (died 2004)
  • Derek Steward, athlete (died 2017)
• 12 October – Jack Manning, architect (died 2021)
• 23 October – Bruce Kent, cyclist (died 1979)
• 24 October – Ken Hough, cricketer, association footballer (died 2009)
• 26 October – Ian Middleton, novelist (died 2007)

November

• 4 November – Ross Allen, politician, cricket umpire (died 2019)
• 8 November – Rex Forrester, hunter, fisherman (died 2001)
• 11 November – Trevor Meale, cricketer (died 2010)
• 13 November – John Blumsky, journalist, broadcaster (died 2013)
• 23 November – Terry Dunleavy, wine industry leader, politician, columnist (died 2022)
• 26 November – David Garner, physical oceanographer (died 2016)
• 28 November – Percy Erceg, rugby union player, coach and administrator (died 2019)
• 30 November – Bryan Bartley, civil engineer, inventor (died 2015)

December

• 8 December – Maurice Cockerill, rugby union player, cricketer
• 9 December – Jim Kelly, cricketer (died 1995)
• 10 December – John Barry, tennis player
• 11 December
  • Norma Williams, swimmer, swimming administrator, journalist (died 2017)
  • Arnold Manaaki Wilson, artist, art educator (died 2012)
• 15 December – Friedensreich Hundertwasser, artist, architect (died 2000)
• 23 December – Jack Skeen, rugby union player (died 2001)
• 30 December – Jean Stonell, cricketer (died 2008)

Exact date unknown

• Ray Watters, geographer

January–March

• 23 January – Sir Westby Perceval, politician (born 1854)
• 12 February – Benjamin Harris, politician (born 1836)
• 16 February – Henry Travers, naturalist (born 1844)
• 18 February – William Calder, civil engineer (born 1860)
• 19 February – Charles Speight, brewer, businessman (born 1865)
• 3 March – Mark Cohen, journalist, educationalist, social reformer (born 1849)
• 5 March – Mary Alcorn, interior designer, businesswoman (born 1866)
• 21 March – William Robinson, cricketer (born 1863)

April–June

• 4 April – Norman Williams, cricketer (born 1864)
• 13 April – William Hardham, soldier, Victoria Cross recipient, rugby union player (born 1876)
• 20 April – John Callan, lawyer, politician (born 1844)
• 1 May – Ned Hughes, rugby union and rugby league player (born 1881)
• 6 May – Allan Thomson, geologist, scientific administrator, museum director (born 1881)
• 14 May – Falconer Larkworthy, banker, financier (born 1833)
• 7 June – John Edie, politician, surveyor, engineer (born 1856)
• 30 June – Mohi Te Ātahīkoia, Ngāti Kahungunu leader, politician, historian (born c.1842)

July–September

• 28 July – John Leith, cricketer (born 1857)
• 30 July – Norris Conradi, cricketer (born 1890)
• 2 August – Alexander Watt Williamson, schoolteacher, first graduate of the University of Otago (born 1849)
• 8 August – Frederick Earp, farmer, surveyor (born 1841)
• 15 August – Annie Rudman, social worker, Salvation Army officer (born 1844)
• 18 August – Alfred Mitchell, police superintendent (born 1853)
• 21 August – Rachel Reynolds, social worker, community leader (born 1838)
• 29 August – Sir William Sim, lawyer, jurist (born 1858)
• 2 September – Joseph Hatch, politician (born c.1837)

October–December

• 1 October – Hugo Friedlander, businessman, politician (born 1850)
• 6 October – John Bennett Tunbridge, police commissioner (born 1850)
• 12 October – John Mackintosh Roberts, soldier, magistrate (born 1840)
• 27 October – James Gardiner, politician (born 1861)
• 18 November – Harold Williams, journalist, polyglot (born 1876)
• 6 December – James Fulton, surveyor, civil engineer (born 1854)
• 13 December – Richard Teece, actuary, cricket administrator (born 1847)
• 27 December – Effie Richardson, landowner, litigant (born c.1849)