In the Genesis account of Noah’s Ark, Shem is listed first among Noah’s three sons.
Genesis names Noah’s sons as Shem, Ham, and Japheth, although the text also says Noah was 500 years old when his sons were born and does not always present their birth order as a simple chronological sequence. Shem is nevertheless conventionally treated as the first-named son.
Shem is especially important in biblical genealogies because Genesis traces the line from Shem through Arpachshad to later ancestral figures. The term “Semitic” was later formed from Shem’s name, though modern linguistics uses “Semitic” for a language family rather than as a straightforward biological lineage.
A common mix-up is assuming that the first name listed must prove the oldest son. Genesis 10:21 describes Shem in wording that has been translated in more than one way, so the exact birth-order question is debated even though the list itself is clear.