Genesis names three sons of Noah in the Noah’s Ark account: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They enter the Ark with Noah, Noah’s wife, and their own wives.
These three names appear repeatedly in Genesis 5–10. After the flood, the text presents them as the ancestors of peoples distributed across the known world in the story’s genealogy. Genesis 10, often called the Table of Nations, traces descendants associated with each son.
The sons are sometimes remembered in a different order depending on the passage or tradition. Shem is listed first in many references, while Genesis also discusses Japheth’s and Ham’s descendants. Their names therefore remain stable even when the narrative emphasis shifts.
The story does not name Noah’s wife or the wives of his sons. Later Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions supplied different names for these women, but those names are not given in the Genesis text itself. That distinction helps separate the biblical account from later interpretations and popular retellings.