How many people were aboard Noah's Ark in the biblical account?

The biblical account describes eight people aboard Noah’s Ark: Noah, his wife, his three sons, and his sons’ wives.

Genesis names Noah’s sons as Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Genesis 7:7 says Noah entered the Ark with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. That totals eight people: one man, one woman, three sons, and three daughters-in-law. The passage does not give the names of Noah’s wife or the wives of his sons.

The number is also stated explicitly in 1 Peter 3:20, which refers to “eight souls” being saved through water. That later New Testament reference is why “eight” is often used as a concise biblical summary of the Ark’s human passengers.

This figure concerns people, not animals. The story includes many animals, and different passages discuss clean and unclean animals in different ways, but those animals are not included in the count of eight. Extra family members found in later traditions are not part of Genesis’s stated passenger list.