The proper name Ham (חָם), one of the three sons of Noah who survived the flood (Gen 5:32; 6:10; 7:13; 9:18). He is identified as the father of Canaan (Gen 9:22) and ancestor of four great people-groups: Cush (Ethiopia), Mizraim (Egypt), Put (Libya), and Canaan (Gen 10:6, 20; 1 Chr 1:8). The narrative of Ham's indiscretion toward his father (Gen 9:22) leads to the oracle against Canaan. In the later Psalms, 'land of Ham' becomes a poetic synonym for Egypt (Ps 78:51; 105:23, 27; 106:22), always paralleling Mizraim. First Chronicles 4:40 also locates earlier Hamite inhabitants in the Negev. French 'Cham' and Spanish 'Cam/Jam' reflect variant transliteration traditions of this foundational ethnographic name.