Ham is the son of Noah traditionally associated with the ancestor of Canaan. Genesis 9:18 identifies Ham as the father of Canaan, and Genesis 10:6 lists Canaan among Ham’s sons.
This detail appears after Noah leaves the Ark. The passage names Noah’s three sons as Shem, Ham, and Japheth, then introduces the episode involving Noah’s vineyard and the later curse directed at Canaan. The genealogical connection is explicit in the biblical text.
A common mix-up is assigning Canaan to Ham’s brother Shem. Genesis instead lists Canaan as Ham’s son, alongside Cush, Egypt, and Put. The later “Table of Nations” in Genesis 10 develops these family-line associations.
The story has also been misused historically to justify racism and slavery. Those interpretations are not a neutral summary of the passage, and the text itself speaks specifically about Canaan rather than presenting a biological explanation for modern racial groups.