The New Testament says eight people were saved aboard Noah’s Ark. First Peter 3:20 refers to “eight souls” being brought safely through the Flood, giving the number in a later Christian interpretation of the Genesis story.
Those eight are Noah, his wife, Noah’s three sons, and the three sons’ wives. Genesis names the sons as Shem, Ham, and Japheth, but does not give the names of Noah’s wife or the wives of his sons in the canonical text. The number therefore comes from counting the family members described in the narrative and is stated explicitly in First Peter.
This figure is sometimes confused with the number of animals aboard the ark. Genesis gives separate instructions about animals, including distinctions between clean and unclean animals in different passages. The eight-person count refers only to human survivors, not to the total population of people or animals inside the ark.