How many human beings were saved aboard Noah's Ark in the Genesis account?

Eight people were saved aboard Noah's Ark in the Genesis account.

Genesis identifies Noah, his wife, his three sons, and the wives of those three sons as the human occupants preserved through the Flood. Counting them gives eight people. The passage does not name Noah's wife or the three daughters-in-law, but it clearly includes them in the group entering the ark.

The three sons are Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Their wives are described as part of the household, and later biblical genealogies connect the sons with the repopulation of the world after the Flood. The number eight is therefore a count of named family roles, not eight individually named characters.

This figure is often confused with the number of animals, which is described through categories and differing counts in Genesis. It is also sometimes confused with later religious traditions that give additional interpretations. The Genesis narrative's human total is specific: four members of Noah's immediate family plus four wives, making eight people.