Shem is named first among Noah’s sons in Genesis 5:32.
Genesis introduces Noah’s three sons in the order Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The same ordering appears in several passages, although the narrative’s chronology and family relationships have prompted extensive discussion among biblical commentators. Shem is presented as an ancestor of peoples in the genealogical account that follows the Flood.
This question asks about the order of names in Genesis 5:32, not about which son was oldest. The text does not make the naming order a simple, universally accepted statement of birth order. In Genesis 10, the “Table of Nations,” the sons are again discussed in relation to the peoples and territories traditionally associated with them.
Shem should also not be confused with Shem’s descendant Eber, whose name is linked by tradition with the term “Hebrew.”