diff --git a/asv_bench/benchmarks/join_merge.py b/asv_bench/benchmarks/join_merge.py
index a6c6990892d38..bd122471898cd 100644
--- a/asv_bench/benchmarks/join_merge.py
+++ b/asv_bench/benchmarks/join_merge.py
@@ -272,6 +272,9 @@ def time_merge_dataframe_empty_left(self, sort):
     def time_merge_dataframes_cross(self, sort):
         merge(self.left.loc[:2000], self.right.loc[:2000], how="cross", sort=sort)
 
+    def time_merge_semi(self, sort):
+        merge(self.df, self.df2, on="key1", how="left_semi")
+
 
 class MergeEA:
     params = [
@@ -380,6 +383,9 @@ def setup(self, units, tz, monotonic):
     def time_merge(self, units, tz, monotonic):
         merge(self.left, self.right)
 
+    def time_merge_semi(self, units, tz, monotonic):
+        merge(self.left, self.right, how="left_semi")
+
 
 class MergeCategoricals:
     def setup(self):
diff --git a/doc/source/user_guide/merging.rst b/doc/source/user_guide/merging.rst
index af377dd7a32f2..220ae61b782b7 100644
--- a/doc/source/user_guide/merging.rst
+++ b/doc/source/user_guide/merging.rst
@@ -407,6 +407,7 @@ either the left or right tables, the values in the joined table will be
     ``right``, ``RIGHT OUTER JOIN``, Use keys from right frame only
     ``outer``, ``FULL OUTER JOIN``, Use union of keys from both frames
     ``inner``, ``INNER JOIN``, Use intersection of keys from both frames
+    ``left_semi``, ``LEFT SEMI JOIN``, Filter rows on left based on occurrences in right.
     ``cross``, ``CROSS JOIN``, Create the cartesian product of rows of both frames
 
 .. ipython:: python
@@ -472,6 +473,18 @@ either the left or right tables, the values in the joined table will be
    p.plot([left, right], result, labels=["left", "right"], vertical=False);
    plt.close("all");
 
+.. ipython:: python
+
+   result = pd.merge(left, right, how="left_semi", on=["key1", "key2"])
+   result
+
+.. ipython:: python
+   :suppress:
+
+   @savefig merging_merge_on_key_inner.png
+   p.plot([left, right], result, labels=["left", "right"], vertical=False);
+   plt.close("all");
+
 .. ipython:: python
 
    result = pd.merge(left, right, how="cross")
diff --git a/doc/source/whatsnew/v3.0.0.rst b/doc/source/whatsnew/v3.0.0.rst
index 12f522301e121..9fc8a3ed2ccea 100644
--- a/doc/source/whatsnew/v3.0.0.rst
+++ b/doc/source/whatsnew/v3.0.0.rst
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ Other enhancements
 - :func:`DataFrame.to_excel` now raises an ``UserWarning`` when the character count in a cell exceeds Excel's limitation of 32767 characters (:issue:`56954`)
 - :func:`pandas.merge` now validates the ``how`` parameter input (merge type) (:issue:`59435`)
 - :func:`pandas.merge`, :meth:`DataFrame.merge` and :meth:`DataFrame.join` now support anti joins (``left_anti`` and ``right_anti``) in the ``how`` parameter (:issue:`42916`)
+- :func:`pandas.merge`, :meth:`DataFrame.merge` and :meth:`DataFrame.join` now support left-semi joins in the ``how`` parameter (:issue:`62961`)
 - :func:`read_spss` now supports kwargs to be passed to pyreadstat (:issue:`56356`)
 - :func:`read_stata` now returns ``datetime64`` resolutions better matching those natively stored in the stata format (:issue:`55642`)
 - :meth:`DataFrame.agg` called with ``axis=1`` and a ``func`` which relabels the result index now raises a ``NotImplementedError`` (:issue:`58807`).
diff --git a/pandas/_libs/hashtable.pyx b/pandas/_libs/hashtable.pyx
index b5ae5a3440f39..a6ca32078fdd7 100644
--- a/pandas/_libs/hashtable.pyx
+++ b/pandas/_libs/hashtable.pyx
@@ -126,3 +126,6 @@ cdef class ObjectFactorizer(Factorizer):
                                        self.count, na_sentinel, na_value)
         self.count = len(self.uniques)
         return labels
+
+    def hash_inner_join(self, values, mask=None):
+        return self.table.hash_inner_join(values, mask)
diff --git a/pandas/_libs/hashtable_class_helper.pxi.in b/pandas/_libs/hashtable_class_helper.pxi.in
index eae393f33bfd3..8969f5a26aca4 100644
--- a/pandas/_libs/hashtable_class_helper.pxi.in
+++ b/pandas/_libs/hashtable_class_helper.pxi.in
@@ -1391,6 +1391,33 @@ cdef class PyObjectHashTable(HashTable):
             k = kh_put_pymap(self.table, <PyObject*>val, &ret)
             self.table.vals[k] = i
 
+    @cython.wraparound(False)
+    @cython.boundscheck(False)
+    def hash_inner_join(self, ndarray[object] values, object mask = None) -> tuple[ndarray, ndarray]:
+        cdef:
+            Py_ssize_t i, n = len(values)
+            object val
+            khiter_t k
+            Int64Vector locs = Int64Vector()
+            Int64Vector self_locs = Int64Vector()
+            Int64VectorData *l
+            Int64VectorData *sl
+        # mask not implemented
+
+        l = &locs.data
+        sl = &self_locs.data
+
+        for i in range(n):
+            val = values[i]
+            hash(val)
+
+            k = kh_get_pymap(self.table, <PyObject*>val)
+            if k != self.table.n_buckets:
+                append_data_int64(l, i)
+                append_data_int64(sl, self.table.vals[k])
+
+        return self_locs.to_array(), locs.to_array()
+
     def lookup(self, ndarray[object] values, object mask = None) -> ndarray:
         # -> np.ndarray[np.intp]
         # mask not yet implemented
diff --git a/pandas/_typing.py b/pandas/_typing.py
index 23598bd2bc517..c42f29ccf430c 100644
--- a/pandas/_typing.py
+++ b/pandas/_typing.py
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ def closed(self) -> bool:
 
 # merge
 MergeHow: TypeAlias = Literal[
-    "left", "right", "inner", "outer", "cross", "left_anti", "right_anti"
+    "left", "right", "inner", "outer", "cross", "left_semi", "left_anti", "right_anti"
 ]
 MergeValidate: TypeAlias = Literal[
     "one_to_one",
diff --git a/pandas/core/frame.py b/pandas/core/frame.py
index 5f62b5c07a5cf..8ae2aeef6ffca 100644
--- a/pandas/core/frame.py
+++ b/pandas/core/frame.py
@@ -325,7 +325,8 @@
 ----------%s
 right : DataFrame or named Series
     Object to merge with.
-how : {'left', 'right', 'outer', 'inner', 'cross', 'left_anti', 'right_anti'},
+how : {'left', 'right', 'outer', 'inner', 'left_semi', 'cross', 'left_anti',
+'right_anti'},
     default 'inner'
     Type of merge to be performed.
 
@@ -337,6 +338,10 @@
       join; sort keys lexicographically.
     * inner: use intersection of keys from both frames, similar to a SQL inner
       join; preserve the order of the left keys.
+    * left_semi: Filter for rows in the left that have a match on the right;
+      preserve the order of the left keys, similar to SQL left semi join.
+
+      .. versionadded:: 3.0
     * cross: creates the cartesian product from both frames, preserves the order
       of the left keys.
     * left_anti: use only keys from left frame that are not in right frame, similar
diff --git a/pandas/core/reshape/merge.py b/pandas/core/reshape/merge.py
index 571f708ccf108..73fa8386e1366 100644
--- a/pandas/core/reshape/merge.py
+++ b/pandas/core/reshape/merge.py
@@ -385,7 +385,8 @@ def merge(
             validate=validate,
         )
     else:
-        op = _MergeOperation(
+        klass = _MergeOperation if how != "left_semi" else _SemiMergeOperation
+        op = klass(
             left_df,
             right_df,
             how=how,
@@ -1053,6 +1054,7 @@ def _validate_how(
             "right",
             "inner",
             "outer",
+            "left_semi",
             "left_anti",
             "right_anti",
             "cross",
@@ -1080,7 +1082,6 @@ def _validate_tolerance(self, left_join_keys: list[ArrayLike]) -> None:
         # Overridden by AsOfMerge
         pass
 
-    @final
     def _reindex_and_concat(
         self,
         join_index: Index,
@@ -1225,7 +1226,6 @@ def _indicator_post_merge(self, result: DataFrame) -> DataFrame:
         result = result.drop(labels=["_left_indicator", "_right_indicator"], axis=1)
         return result
 
-    @final
     def _maybe_restore_index_levels(self, result: DataFrame) -> None:
         """
         Restore index levels specified as `on` parameters
@@ -1269,7 +1269,6 @@ def _maybe_restore_index_levels(self, result: DataFrame) -> None:
         if names_to_restore:
             result.set_index(names_to_restore, inplace=True)
 
-    @final
     def _maybe_add_join_keys(
         self,
         result: DataFrame,
@@ -1405,7 +1404,11 @@ def _get_join_info(
         left_ax = self.left.index
         right_ax = self.right.index
 
-        if self.left_index and self.right_index and self.how != "asof":
+        if (
+            self.left_index
+            and self.right_index
+            and self.how not in ("asof", "left_semi")
+        ):
             join_index, left_indexer, right_indexer = left_ax.join(
                 right_ax, how=self.how, return_indexers=True, sort=self.sort
             )
@@ -1649,15 +1652,7 @@ def _get_merge_keys(
                     k = cast(Hashable, k)
                     left_keys.append(left._get_label_or_level_values(k))
                     join_names.append(k)
-            if isinstance(self.right.index, MultiIndex):
-                right_keys = [
-                    lev._values.take(lev_codes)
-                    for lev, lev_codes in zip(
-                        self.right.index.levels, self.right.index.codes
-                    )
-                ]
-            else:
-                right_keys = [self.right.index._values]
+            right_keys = self._unpack_index_as_join_key(self.right.index)
         elif _any(self.right_on):
             for k in self.right_on:
                 k = extract_array(k, extract_numpy=True)
@@ -1671,18 +1666,23 @@ def _get_merge_keys(
                     k = cast(Hashable, k)
                     right_keys.append(right._get_label_or_level_values(k))
                     join_names.append(k)
-            if isinstance(self.left.index, MultiIndex):
-                left_keys = [
-                    lev._values.take(lev_codes)
-                    for lev, lev_codes in zip(
-                        self.left.index.levels, self.left.index.codes
-                    )
-                ]
-            else:
-                left_keys = [self.left.index._values]
+            left_keys = self._unpack_index_as_join_key(self.left.index)
+        elif self.how == "left_semi":
+            left_keys = self._unpack_index_as_join_key(self.left.index)
+            right_keys = self._unpack_index_as_join_key(self.right.index)
 
         return left_keys, right_keys, join_names, left_drop, right_drop
 
+    def _unpack_index_as_join_key(self, index: Index) -> list[ArrayLike]:
+        if isinstance(index, MultiIndex):
+            keys = [
+                lev._values.take(lev_codes)
+                for lev, lev_codes in zip(index.levels, index.codes)
+            ]
+        else:
+            keys = [index._values]
+        return keys
+
     @final
     def _maybe_coerce_merge_keys(self) -> None:
         # we have valid merges but we may have to further
@@ -2040,7 +2040,7 @@ def get_join_indexers(
     left_keys: list[ArrayLike],
     right_keys: list[ArrayLike],
     sort: bool = False,
-    how: JoinHow = "inner",
+    how: JoinHow + Literal["left_semi"] = "inner",
 ) -> tuple[npt.NDArray[np.intp] | None, npt.NDArray[np.intp] | None]:
     """
 
@@ -2097,7 +2097,8 @@ def get_join_indexers(
     right = Index(rkey)
 
     if (
-        left.is_monotonic_increasing
+        how != "left_semi"
+        and left.is_monotonic_increasing
         and right.is_monotonic_increasing
         and (left.is_unique or right.is_unique)
     ):
@@ -2240,6 +2241,41 @@ def _convert_to_multiindex(index: Index) -> MultiIndex:
     return join_levels, join_codes, join_names
 
 
+class _SemiMergeOperation(_MergeOperation):
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        if self.indicator:
+            raise NotImplementedError("indicator is not supported for semi-join.")
+        elif self.sort:
+            raise NotImplementedError(
+                "sort is not supported for semi-join. Sort your DataFrame afterwards."
+            )
+
+    def _maybe_add_join_keys(
+        self,
+        result: DataFrame,
+        left_indexer: npt.NDArray[np.intp] | None,
+        right_indexer: npt.NDArray[np.intp] | None,
+    ) -> None:
+        return
+
+    def _maybe_restore_index_levels(self, result: DataFrame) -> None:
+        return
+
+    def _reindex_and_concat(
+        self,
+        join_index: Index,
+        left_indexer: npt.NDArray[np.intp] | None,
+        right_indexer: npt.NDArray[np.intp] | None,
+    ) -> DataFrame:
+        left = self.left
+
+        if left_indexer is not None and not is_range_indexer(left_indexer, len(left)):
+            lmgr = left._mgr.take(left_indexer, axis=1, verify=False)
+            left = left._constructor_from_mgr(lmgr, axes=lmgr.axes)
+        return left
+
+
 class _OrderedMerge(_MergeOperation):
     _merge_type = "ordered_merge"
 
@@ -2827,7 +2863,7 @@ def _factorize_keys(
         lk = ensure_int64(lk.codes)
         rk = ensure_int64(rk.codes)
 
-    elif isinstance(lk, ExtensionArray) and lk.dtype == rk.dtype:
+    elif how != "left_semi" and isinstance(lk, ExtensionArray) and lk.dtype == rk.dtype:
         if (isinstance(lk.dtype, ArrowDtype) and is_string_dtype(lk.dtype)) or (
             isinstance(lk.dtype, StringDtype) and lk.dtype.storage == "pyarrow"
         ):
@@ -2915,7 +2951,7 @@ def _factorize_keys(
         lk_data, rk_data = lk, rk  # type: ignore[assignment]
         lk_mask, rk_mask = None, None
 
-    hash_join_available = how == "inner" and not sort and lk.dtype.kind in "iufb"
+    hash_join_available = how == "inner" and not sort and lk.dtype.kind in "iufbO"
     if hash_join_available:
         rlab = rizer.factorize(rk_data, mask=rk_mask)
         if rizer.get_count() == len(rlab):
@@ -2923,6 +2959,10 @@ def _factorize_keys(
             return lidx, ridx, -1
         else:
             llab = rizer.factorize(lk_data, mask=lk_mask)
+    elif how == "left_semi":
+        # populate hashtable for right and then do a hash join
+        rizer.factorize(rk_data, mask=rk_mask)
+        return rizer.hash_inner_join(lk_data, lk_mask)[1], None, -1  # type: ignore[return-value]
     else:
         llab = rizer.factorize(lk_data, mask=lk_mask)
         rlab = rizer.factorize(rk_data, mask=rk_mask)
diff --git a/pandas/tests/reshape/merge/test_semi.py b/pandas/tests/reshape/merge/test_semi.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..39bca11b5174f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pandas/tests/reshape/merge/test_semi.py
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+import pytest
+
+import pandas.util._test_decorators as td
+
+import pandas as pd
+import pandas._testing as tm
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "vals_left, vals_right, dtype",
+    [
+        ([1, 2, 3], [1, 2], "int64"),
+        ([1.5, 2.5, 3.5], [1.5, 2.5], "float64"),
+        ([True, True, False], [True, True], "bool"),
+        (["a", "b", "c"], ["a", "b"], "object"),
+        pytest.param(
+            ["a", "b", "c"],
+            ["a", "b"],
+            "string[pyarrow]",
+            marks=td.skip_if_no("pyarrow"),
+        ),
+        pytest.param(
+            ["a", "b", "c"],
+            ["a", "b"],
+            "str",
+            marks=td.skip_if_no("pyarrow"),
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_left_semi(vals_left, vals_right, dtype):
+    vals_left = pd.Series(vals_left, dtype=dtype)
+    vals_right = pd.Series(vals_right, dtype=dtype)
+    left = pd.DataFrame({"a": vals_left, "b": [1, 2, 3]})
+    right = pd.DataFrame({"a": vals_right, "c": 1})
+    expected = pd.DataFrame({"a": vals_right, "b": [1, 2]})
+    result = left.merge(right, how="left_semi")
+    tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
+
+    result = left.join(right.set_index("a"), how="left_semi", on="a")
+    tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
+
+    result = left.set_index("a").join(right.set_index("a"), how="left_semi")
+    tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected.set_index("a"))
+
+    result = left.set_index("a").merge(
+        right.set_index("a"), how="left_semi", left_index=True, right_index=True
+    )
+    tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected.set_index("a"))
+
+    result = left.set_index("a").merge(
+        right, how="left_semi", left_index=True, right_on="a"
+    )
+    tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected.set_index("a"))
+
+    result = left.merge(
+        right.set_index("a"), how="left_semi", right_index=True, left_on="a"
+    )
+    tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
+
+    right = pd.DataFrame({"d": vals_right, "c": 1})
+    result = left.merge(right, how="left_semi", left_on="a", right_on="d")
+    tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected)
+
+    right = pd.DataFrame({"d": vals_right, "c": 1})
+    result = left.merge(right, how="left_semi", left_on=["a", "b"], right_on=["d", "c"])
+    tm.assert_frame_equal(result, expected.head(1))
+
+
+def test_left_semi_invalid():
+    left = pd.DataFrame({"a": [1, 2, 3], "b": [1, 2, 3]})
+    right = pd.DataFrame({"a": [1, 2], "c": 1})
+    msg = "indicator is not supported for semi-join."
+    with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError, match=msg):
+        left.merge(right, how="left_semi", indicator=True)
+
+    msg = "sort is not supported for semi-join. Sort your DataFrame afterwards."
+    with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError, match=msg):
+        left.merge(right, how="left_semi", sort=True)